


Between The Lines

by selinameyer



Category: Veep
Genre: F/M, here's a take on it, hey so remember how the finale dropped that bomb on us?!?!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2018-11-28 12:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11417766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selinameyer/pseuds/selinameyer
Summary: One more drink he said.That one fucking drink turned into four and Amy was at five drinks in while Dan was probably on his goddamn seventh. He had convinced her to move over and she was sitting beside him, their knees pressed together and his hand slowly caressing her thigh.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sup my dudes...I can't believe....we were blessed....with finding out these two are having a baby during the last 30 seconds of this cluster fuck of a season. The entire finale redeemed what we had to go through.
> 
> Anyway!
> 
> This idea obviously came from the finale and that bombshell that we were given and how these two fuck ups are going to deal with it, but since we were skimped out of the actual conception, that's where this starts off, hah.
> 
> So enjoy!

One more drink he said.

That one fucking drink turned into four and Amy was at five drinks in while Dan was probably on his goddamn seventh. He had convinced her to move over and she was sitting beside him, their knees pressed together and his hand slowly caressing her thigh.

She was cradling her chin in her hand, watching him as he finished the remainder of his drink. He’d loosened his tie and his blazer was thrown over the chair she had recently occupied.

“I sent Roger Furlong my resume.”

She watched as Dan sputtered on his whiskey, rolling her eyes as she handed him a napkin.

“Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Because Selina’s a cunt.”

“Yeah, no shit. But she’s always been one.”

“No, you haven’t been around. You don’t know how bad she’s gotten. She’s like fucking  _ Cuntzilla  _ and I’m the one getting the brunt of it all. She’s even nicer to Catherine than she is to me and don’t get me started on how much she suddenly fucking adores Richard. I get that she’s been through alot with losing the election and the whole spa thing, and Andrew -”

“Honestly every time Selina gets fucked over by Andrew, it’s what she deserves. Hopefully one day she’ll learn the fucking lesson and stop making the same mistake. For everyone’s sake.”

“Yeah? You’re not far off from being much like Andrew yourself. Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

“Hey, I’m not gonna deny the fact that I can indeed be a bit of a whore, but at least I don’t take advantage of women when they’re emotionally or mentally unstable. That’s some sick predatory shit. I have boundaries.”

“You got me there.”

“So you’re really thinking about leaving her again? Like for real this time? No coming back?”

“I don’t fucking know. She’s so fucking awful sometimes but I’ve been with her since I was a college intern...that’s fifteen years, I’ve been with her since she was a Senator and it’s like...I can’t help but be pulled back into her inner sanctum even if I fucking leave.” Amy sighed, rubbing her eyes.

“Well, you can always come work for me when I get my next gig.” He responded, giving her knee a good pat.

  
This was the first time in so long where it was just the two of them alone, with no one else fucking interrupting them. It was almost like it was when they were still working together. They were always the last two standing at the end of the night. Everyone else had families to go back home to. Except for them.

They had no one but each other.

 

“I should probably get going.” She said as she started to pull away, grabbing her purse. “Drinks are on you since you were so fucking adamant that I stay around a little longer. Missed my company that much, huh Danny?”

“Let’s split an uber, it’s cheaper.” He responded as he dropped a fifty on the table and reached around her to grab his blazer as his hand left her thigh.

  
God, he was so goddamn close. She could smell his cologne as he stood.

  
“Hurry the fuck up, Dan. I have to get up early to deal with Selina’s bullshit in the morning.” She retorted as she stood, feeling the alcohol hit her all at once.

“What happened to your tolerance, Ames?” He teased as he wrapped an arm around her.

“You used to be able to make it past five and still be able to walk straight.”

“Yeah, and I stopped fucking drinking in Nevada so that tolerance hasn’t gotten it’s chance to get back up.” She replied as they made their way outside, his arm still wrapped around her waist.

“Guess we gotta change that, huh?”  
  


He gave her his stupid signature smirk and she could feel her fucking heart skip a beat.

  
She had fully accepted the fact that she would never  _ not  _ be attracted to this jackass.

 

“God, shut the fuck up.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Make me.” He replied, pulling her closer against him.

Their faces were only inches apart. She could feel his breath on her face as he looked down at her, his eyes dark.

“Uber’s here.” He smirked as his hand left her waist and he pulled away, approaching the black Mercedes and pulling open the door.

She crossed her arms.

“Fucking get in the car, Amy.” He said as he held the door open.

* * *

“Come upstairs.”

“What?”  
  


He had to make sure he heard her right. There was no fucking way he had.

 

“Don’t play coy, Dan. I said what I said.”  
  


Dan watched as Amy pushed open the door of their Uber and left it wide open as she headed toward the front door of her townhouse.

He’d be a fucking dumbass to not follow after her.

He followed her up the front steps and leaned against the door as she searched through her purse looking for her keys. She found them, only to drop them the second she had them out of her purse.  


  
He laughed.

  
“Fuck you.” She snapped as he bent down to pick them up.

 

He straightened up and slid the key into the lock, looking down at her as he did so.

She was biting her lip.

It was almost like that night in Nevada.

Dan pushed the door open and the moment he did, she was pulling him inside.

He slammed the door behind them, his hands pulling her to him as she grabbed his face, fingers digging into his jaw as their mouths met. His hands slid down to her ass and she moaned into his mouth as she bit his lower lip.

 

“Where’s the bedroom?” He asked as she pushed his blazer off and stepped out of her heels.

God, he’d forgotten how small she was.

“Upstairs.” She responded, pulling at his tie and undoing it before throwing it on the ground.

 

He nodded before grabbing her.

 

“Put me down, you fucking caveman!” She shrieked, annoyed as he carried her up the stairs.

“Bedroom?” He asked as he reached the landing, refusing to put her down.

“Straight ahead.”

 

He walked down the hallway and pushed the door open, dropping her onto the bed before situating himself between her legs. He slipped a hand between her legs, his fingers finding her clit and Amy arched into him as she let out a quiet whimper.

“When did you stop wearing underwear to work?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at her, pushing two fingers into her. She gasped, digging the nails of one hand into his shoulder as he finger fucked her.

“When I knew there was no one around to leer at my ass.” She quipped as her mouth found his neck.

“Is that so?”

 

He increased the pace of his fingers, feeling her clench around them as she panted beneath him.

 

“Whatever you’re fucking doing…” She paused, biting her lip and swallowing hard before continuing. “Keep fucking doing it.”

“You like that, Ames?” 

  
He couldn’t help but smirk as he looked down at her as he pressed his thumb against her clit, already feeling her body start to tense. 

  
“I really hope you’re not going to have whiskey dick because that’d be making quite the fucking impression since you’ve been trying to get back into my pants for the last six years, Danny boy.”

“Fuck you.” He replied, rolling his eyes.

“Well, that’s what we’re in the process of doing.”

“Do you ever just...shut the fuck up?”

“Dan Egan? Asking a woman to be quiet during sex?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

 

He adjusted the angle of his fingers before kissing her, feeling her start to quiver as she clamped down on his fingers.

 

“Oh my fucking  _ god _ .” She panted quietly against his mouth, riding out her orgasm as he slowed the pace of his fingers, one of her hands gripping onto the back of his neck for dear life.

 

That was the thing with Amy. 

 

For as loud as she was when it came to everyday life and getting what she wanted at work, he knew that when it came to sex she was surprisingly quiet. It was almost like she was embarrassed, which was ridiculous to him considering the fact that she had nothing to be fucking embarrassed over. She had always been that way, even when they had dated almost a decade ago. If they had been together longer, he would have tried to get her out of that shell because she would only be even more attractive once she realized her full sexual prowess.

  
He made a mental note to help her unlock that potential if he ever got the chance.

* * *

The thing about having sex with Dan was the he knew  _ exactly  _ how to get her going, even if it had been years since they had last fucked.

Amy pushed him off of her and straddled him, unbuttoning his shirt as his hands found her hips. She could feel his cock through the fabric of his slacks and she ground her hips against him.

 

“I really can’t wait to be inside of you.”

She could feel the heat rise to her cheeks and she fucking hated the fact that her own goddamned body betrayed her that way.

“Shut up and take off your stupid undershirt.” She replied, pushing off his shirt before unbuckling his belt.

 

For once in his fucking life, Dan did as he was told and stripped off his shirt, discarding it onto the floor.

 

She pulled at his boxers enough until she had them as low as she needed them to be. She wrapped her fingers around his cock, hating herself for the fact that just touching him had her already aching to be fucked.

“I hope you weren’t expecting a blow job because if you were, you should have thought about that before you let me get more than three drinks in.”

She tightened her grasp on him as she pumped her hand along his shaft, running her thumb over his wet tip.

 

“Do you have a condom?”

“We don’t need one.”

“Uh, yeah we do. I’m not on the pill so a condom is the only option.”

“Nah, I can’t knock anyone up.” He replied, flipping them over so that he was on top of her and settled between her legs. 

“Since when?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion as she watched him ditch the remainder of his clothing.

“Since a doctor literally fucking told me I couldn’t. Why do you think Richard was Catherine’s sperm donor? Trust me on this one.” Dan responded, pushing her dress up.

“Then shut up and fuck me.” She snapped, pulling it off as she felt him tease her entrance with the tip of his cock.

 

Amy rolled her eyes as he looked down at her, smirking.

 

“What the fuck are you looking at, weirdo?”

“Just never thought I’d hear you begging me to fuck you.”

“I didn’t -” She cut herself off with the gasp that left her as he thrust into her, nails digging into his hips.

“Don’t worry, you will be.”  
  


She moaned loudly, surprising herself as he hooked one of her legs over his hip, adjusting the angle.

It was fucking fantastic to be fucked by someone who knew what the hell he was doing, someone who she was physically attracted to and didn’t need her to fake her fucking orgasms.

 

She had been with Buddy for a little over a year and she could barely count the amount of real orgasms he had given her on one hand. It was awkward and uncomfortable and she wasn’t even sure she was attracted to him, but Buddy was nice. He genuinely cared about her and the dumb fucker thought he could make her happy and for a brief moment she thought he could too. He had potential to be molded into whatever she wanted him to be.

Until she realized that she  _ couldn’t  _ mold him into something she wanted him to be because he was never something she truly wanted. He had always been meant to be just a fucking distraction. She didn’t even understand how she had convinced herself that he was someone she could fucking settle down with. When had she decided that settling down was even in the picture for her?

 

Then there was Dan.

 

Fucking Dan and the fact that a part of her still had feelings for that fucking asshole, even if it had been  _ years  _ since they had last been together. 

They had been apart longer than they had even been together and yet she knew that she would always have a soft spot for him. He was the only one who ever tried to get her to tone it down. The others had always told her that she was too much, too turn it down, that her assertiveness was unnecessary.

  
Dan had always been the opposite.

Dan fucking  _ liked  _ her aggressiveness. He egged her on. Whenever she got  _ too  _ worked up he was the one who could bring her back down from it, whether by literally dragging her away from the person she was about to murder or by getting her to vent it out. He had always been surprisingly good at getting her to talk about whatever was fucking bothering her.

If it weren’t for that soft spot and the fact that she had fully accepted it, she wouldn’t be lying in bed beneath him, pulling at his lower lip with her teeth as one of his hands entwined itself in her hair.

 

“Jesus, Ames.” He grunted as he thrust into her, causing her to arch into him and she whined into his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closely against her.

Their rhythm was almost frantic, Dan’s mouth at her neck and his fingers finding her clit and she buried her face into his shoulder as she felt herself start to tense. 

“Don’t do that. Don’t hide your face.” She heard him say quietly and before she knew it, he had pulled far enough away from her to look her in the eye and tilt her chin up to face him.

“I want to see your face.” He said before he kissed her cheek, forehead, chin, finally settling back on her mouth.

It was a moment that took her by surprise. There was something so tender about the tone of his voice, something so genuine about his actions. It was loaded with  _ something  _ but she wasn’t in the state to try and figure it out.

Amy brought a hand up to his face, her fingers resting against his cheek, quietly panting and looking him directly in the eye as she came.

* * *

He knew she would be guarded with him but he hadn’t expected her to try and hide her face from him.

  
When he felt her bury herself into his shoulder, almost as though she were embarrassed, it just wasn’t right. He needed her to know how much he wanted her, without having to bring himself to say it.

Amy’s thumb pressed against his lips as she clenched around him, her legs releasing their grip against his hips. Dan watched as her pupils dilated before she quietly moaned his name before kissing him.  
  


It was like music to his fucking ears as he came to the sound of her breathily moaning his name.

 

He took a moment, pressing his forehead against hers, his hand caressing her inner thigh before dropping down beside her only for her to pull away from him completely.

Dan sighed, grabbing her elbow and turning her in his direction.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

  
He rolled his eyes.  
  


“Listen, I know you. I know when there’s something wrong, so fucking spill.” He responded, hooking his arm around her and pulling her against his side so that her face was buried into his neck.

“You’re going to regret this in the morning.”

“Why the fuck would I regret this?”

“I don’t know, because you’re a jackass?”

“Amy, come on. There’s only a handful of times I’ve ever regretted having sex.”

 

One of those times being when he slept with her sister but he had a feeling that bringing that up would only make her feel even worse.

 

“Just because that cousin fucker Buddy couldn’t get you off, doesn’t mean you’re any less desirable. Don’t let that asshole make you feel insecure because you’ve got literally no fucking reason to be and before you accuse me of being insincere, I’m being honest with you, Ames.”  
  


He felt her press her lips to the base of his neck before draping an arm across his middle.

* * *

Amy was standing in her bathroom, brushing her teeth as she examined herself in the mirror. The bags around her eyes were darker than usual considering the fact that she had only slept three hours, yet she still felt fully rested.

 

“Morning.”

 

She looked into the mirror to find Dan standing behind her in his boxers, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

 

“I have to shower and get ready for work.” She said quietly, avoiding his eye as she turned to face him.

 

She felt his hands on her hips and his mouth against her neck.

 

“We can shower together and conserve water.”

He pushed her up against the sink, hoisting her up onto it.

She hooked her legs around his waist as she pressed her mouth against his.

“Fine.” She mumbled messily against his mouth. “But make it quick.”


	2. Chapter 2

It hadn’t been her first thought.

  
Hell, it hadn’t even been a fucking thought to her at all.

 

“Fuck, fuck, _fuck_.” She groaned holding her head in her hands.

 

Amy had assumed that her period was two months late because of stress. She wasn’t even sure she would have a fucking job in the months to come, with BKD pulling their offer the moment she had mentioned Selina’s name and Selina’s stagnancy in whatever it was that she wanted to fucking do after they broke ground on her library.

The timing was just terrible.

Pregnancy just wasn’t something that had even been a logical thought. Dan had told her he was fucking sterile. She couldn’t begin to express how goddamn pissed she was at him for that.

God, she shouldn’t have been so stupid as to believe him. She should have made him wear a fucking condom, she should have fucking known better.

 

She took a deep breath, pulling her head from her hands and grabbing her phone as she glanced at the two little pink lines on that fucking pregnancy test.

  
She had to make a doctor’s appointment. False positives were common. She needed to be _sure_ before she got too worked up about something that might not even be true.

* * *

“I’m pregnant.”

“I already fucking knew that, Amy from the sudden fact that Gary has to keep my freezer stocked with ice cream for you to suck on whenever you’re around. Plus when we were popping bottles five minutes ago, I watched you pour your champagne into one of those ferns Catherine insisted on me putting in here to liven up the place. That just confirmed it. Come on Amy, I’ve been pregnant several times, I know the signs.” Selina said as she rounded her desk and leaned against its front.

 

“Well, congratulations are in order I guess. How far along are you?”

  
“Twelve weeks.”

 

Amy watched as Selina processed before giving her  small nod.

 

“Fan-fucking-tastic!” She exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

 

Amy braced herself for the screeching that was surely to come.

 

It didn’t.

 

“Why aren’t you screaming at me?”

“What am I your mother? This doesn’t put a knick in my plans. You won’t be giving birth until like, May/June which is a little more than a year out from the convention. Your kid’s going to be walking by the time the election rolls around. As long as you’re on top of your game as my campaign manager while we pre-campaign, the fuck do I care if you’re pregnant.”

“Wait, you’re making me campaign manager?”

“Who the fuck else would I make campaign manager, Amy? I’m still convinced Kent’s the reason I lost the last election after you quit, Ben might drop dead from a heart attack, and I can't trust Dan to not have another mental breakdown. You’re the only one competent enough to actually do anything right.”

“Well you’re fucking right on that. If you want anything done right, you need a woman to do it.”  

“Don’t be fucking slick, Amy. As I was saying, as long as you’re on top of your fucking game, I don’t give a shit. Don’t fuck up and we’re good. Besides, a pregnant campaign manager brings me a massive gain from the American people, especially women. Those fucking feminists will eat this shit up.”

 

Amy laughed.

 

No matter the situation, Selina could always find a fucking way to make it about herself.

 

God, imagine being so goddamn narcissistic.

 

“Please just, try to keep your hormones in check. You and I both know that campaign bus is only going to have space for one crazy woman, and we both know that’s Gary.” Selina responded, putting her hand up and scowling as she shook her head.

“Sorry, ma’am. It’s just a relieved laugh.”

“Is there anything else you needed to discuss with me? Those fucking imbeciles are probably leaning against the door trying to listen into our conversation. I don’t know how the hell they haven’t figured out who was getting this position yet.”

“No, there’s nothing else we needed to discuss.”

* * *

She had to tell Dan.

It had been a month since she had told Selina and she could only get away with not telling him for at least another two weeks before she started showing. He would get suspicious, he would put two and two together and realize. If he figured it out on his own, Dan would cause a scene and that was the last thing she needed or wanted.

 

She purposely stayed at the back of the group as they got out of the car at the Madison-Monroe dinner. When the rest of the group headed inside, Amy stayed right  beside the car, using her phone as a distraction from the anxiety that was starting to build within her.

 

“Dan, you got a sec?”

“Uh yeah, why, what’s up?”

“Ben’s right, a lot of memories. She and I started here seven years ago.”  
  


She was stalling, bringing up how she had been with Selina the second time she had tried to run, the first time she had made it far enough to fail hard in 2012.   
  


“Tell me about it, I was here in 2012. Steve banged a couple of stewardesses.” He responded, smiling like he was some fucking frat boy.

 

God, she was going to be sick.

 

“Stop being exactly like yourself, you’re fucking ruining this.”   

“Ruining what?”

“Remember a couple of months ago after you got fired, we had drinks with Ben?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had a lot of drinks.”

“Yeah, well I’m pregnant. It’s yours.”

 

She didn’t even give him a chance to respond before walking away and heading inside.

* * *

He waited until he knew she was out of earshot before reacting. He heard her knock on the door and the sound of the crowd as it open and shut.

 

“Fuuuuuuck. I thought things were starting to turn around.” He said shaking his head.

 

Did she really have to drop this bomb on him at an event? Where he wouldn’t be able to immediately discuss it with her?

 

God, she knew just how to fuck with him.

 

He sighed, heading inside.

 

Dan approached her stopping directly beside her. Amy’s arms were crossed tightly in front of her, one hand gripping her iphone so hard that he could see the whiteness of her knuckles, and her claw so clenched he would be surprised if she didn’t end up with fucking lockjaw.

Usually this would be the _perfect_ moment to set her off. Her posture was exactly as it always was before he said something that would have her telling him to go fuck himself. Had there been any other reason she was this tense, he would have taken the opportunity, but for once he was going to act like a goddamn adult, instead of a fucking little boy on the playground pulling the pigtails of the girl he liked.

So he stood there beside her, biting his tongue.

* * *

“Ames, can we talk?” He gently grabbed her elbow, tugging her in his direction.

   
Dan watched as Amy turned to face him, avoiding his eye as she sighed.

 

“How long have you known?” 

“About two months.” She responded, pulling her elbow from his grasp and crossing her arms again.

 

Did she always have to be so fucking guarded with him?

 

“And you waited this fucking long to tell me?”

“I needed some time to think about what I was going to do, Dan.”

“And what are you going to do?”  
  


He already knew the answer, but he needed to hear her say it.

 

“I'm keeping it.”

“Everything alright over here?”  Selina asked as she approached them, one of the fake smiles she used on her donors plastered onto her face.

“Everything’s just peachy.”  Amy responded through gritted teeth.

“Well don’t take too long, we’ve still got a strategy meeting before our flight back to New York.” She responded, a little too brightly to be sincere as she gave Amy’s upper arm a squeeze before side eyeing him and turning away.

“She knows?”

“Of course she fucking knows, she’s my boss.”

“You fucking told Selina before you told me?”

“If it makes you feel any better my family doesn't know yet. No one else knows except you and Selina, except she doesn't know it's yours.” She responded, shrugging as she pulled out her phone.

“Don't fucking do that. Don't use your phone as a distraction. I'm trying to actually talk to you here.”

“Why are you so fucking pressed?” She asked, pocketing her phone.

“Because you're fucking pregnant, Amy, and it's fucking mine.”

“You don't have a right to be upset! You're the one who lied to me and told me you were fucking sterile!” She hissed.

 

He brought a hand up to rub his temples.

 

God, did everything have to always be so fucking difficult? Was he ever going to catch a goddamn break?

 

“Listen, I didn't lie to you. I was told that my boys didn't swim. How the fuck was I supposed to know this was going to happen?”

“God, are you fucking daft? Slow swimmers doesn't mean you can't get anyone pregnant, you dip shit. It means the chances are slim to none but they're still fucking there.”

“I'm fucking sorry, alright? Trust me, if I could have avoided this happening I would have.”

“Sorry doesn't change the fact that it happened, Dan. It doesn't change any of this…can we just, end this right here for now? I'm tired and Selina’s been blowing up my phone for the last three minutes, probably telling me to hurry the fuck up. We’re holding up the motorcade.” Amy said pointing over her shoulder at myriad of vehicles.

 

She let out a defeated sigh and it was only then that he realized how fucking stressful this all had to be for her. It's not like he was the ideal baby daddy, it was no fucking wonder she waited before telling him.

 

“Yeah, whatever you want.”

 

As frustrated as he was at the situation, he knew he had to actually try and be a fucking decent human being about it.

 

He had _just_ gotten Amy back into his life and having her back had made him realize how much he had fucking missed having her around.

 

They were going to be spending the better part of the next two years together working for Selina and she was the only person on that fucking team that didn't drive him bat shit crazy most of the time.

 

He really couldn't afford to lose her, especially when he didn't even have her to begin with.

* * *

Amy pulled open the door of the limo, rolling her eyes as she watched Selina and Gary both try to seem as though they hadn't been spying on her conversation with Dan through the tinted windows.

 

“So is he stepping up to the fucking plate or what?” Selina asked as she slid over, allowing her to take the seat beside her.

“We didn't get that far. He has the audacity to be pissed that I waited so long to tell him and I shut down any further discussion after he tried to apologize. I'm too tired for this shit tonight.”

 

She was beyond grateful that wherever Selina went, she went, currently meaning that she wasn't subjected to being in the back of a limo with Dan for the next half hour.

 

“I don't know how you do it, Ame. I would have cut his cock off if he had told me he was sterile and ended up knocking me up anyway.”

“I know you would have.”  
  


She didn't know exactly when she had decided that confiding in Selina (and Gary by proxy) was a good decision. Their friendship, for lack of better words, had gone back to what it had been like prior to her meltdown at the convention several years ago. Selina was back to normal, no longer holding whatever animosity it was that she had been holding towards her. She was glad that hostility was fucking gone because she hadn't done anything to deserve it in the first place. All she had done was find someone else to work for.  It wasn't like she was going to be able to sit on her ass and wait for Selina to get her shit together once she came back from Arizona. Going to Nevada had been her only option to keep herself politically sharp. She hadn't wanted to try and work for another fucker in D.C.. It was supposed to be her fresh start and while it turned out to be a giant fucking mistake, she wasn't going to apologize to Selina for detaching herself from her for a while. She had no other choice.  
  
With Selina being back to her normal, less misanthropic self, Amy was actually able to properly communicate with her in regards to her position without fear of getting screeched at or belittled.

It wasn't like she had any other options as to who to confide in. The only person whom she had ever spoken to in regards to her realization of wanting to possibly have children was Mike, and seeing as he was no longer a part of the team, it made it difficult for her to try and reach out to him. She couldn't help but find it hysterical that of all people, it was _Mike_ who understood where she was coming from and could provide her with some sort of comfort and advice. He was the only one who actually showed some modicum of interest in his kids and in trying to be a decent fucking parent.

God, she really missed that Fozzie bear looking fuck sometimes. He was the one person who actually had some sort of warmth to them. 

“Well, if he steps out of line I can always just fire him.” Selina shrugged, reaching out a hand to Gary.

 

Amy watched as he squeezed hand sanitizer into her open palm.

 

“Believe me, if it ever comes to it, I might take you up on that...But for the meantime, just don't make any allusions to knowing it's his...I told him you didn't know.”

“Amy, girlie, why would you tell him that I didn't know it was his? Who the fuck _else_ would you be having a baby with? Any person with a goddamn brain would put two and two together. It's just the two of us in this fucking sausage fest and god knows I'm not fucking any of these idiots and spending all of this time together meant you were just bound to fuck somebody. Dan’s the only one in your age range. He's the only realistic option. I mean, Leon does have some sort of -”  
  
“Ew. Please don't ever bring that up, ever.” 

“I'm just trying to say that Dan’s gonna be the first person people are going to think of, and you can sure as hell bet that the press is going to pick up on it sooner or later, and your phone’s gonna be ringing up the ass.”

“Yeah, well it's a good thing he’s deputy head of communications, he’ll be able to handle that with no problem.”

* * *

“Hey Amy, hold up.”

 

He watched her shoulders tense as she slowed down in order to allow him to catch up with her. He rolled his eyes. Trying to get anything out of her was going to prove more difficult than it already seemed.

 

“What is it, Dan?” She said once he reached her.

 

They were about to board the jet Selina had persuaded Catherine to buy her for Christmas as a donation to her campaign that wasn't even official yet.

 

“Have dinner with me once we’re back in New York. We can finish that discussion from earlier.”

 

He watched as Amy looked up at him, crossing her arms as they reached the stairs leading up to the plane.

 

“What if I'm not ready to finish that conversation?”

“What the fuck do you want from me, Amy? I'm trying to make some sort of effort here to try and work something out and you're not even trying.”

“I want you to let me fucking decide when we finish this conversation. I want you to realize this isn't about you or what you fucking want, Dan. Jesus Christ, are you really that much of a self absorbed prick?”

 

He let out an irritated sigh.

 

“I'm really not trying to argue with you over this, so whenever you're ready to finish what you started, let me know, alright?”

“Fine.”

“Let me take your bag.”

 

She side-eyed him.

 

“I'm trying to be nice for once and those are a lot of stairs.” He continued, rolling his eyes.

 

He watched as she shook her head in response before handing him her duffel and heading up the steps. He followed just a step behind her, wanting to make sure she made it up okay.

 

It was after midnight and he knew Amy. Once it hit a certain point in time, she would start to wobble in her heels. The last thing he wanted was for her to trip going up the stairs.

Better safe than sorry.

* * *

Of fucking course the only seating options remaining on that stupid little jet were two seats directly beside one another, meaning that she was stuck beside Dan for the better part of two and a half hours.

 

Just what she had wanted to avoid.

 

“Window or aisle?” He asked, looking down at her with a stupid smirk on his face.

 

She rolled her eyes, dropping down into the aisle seat and buckling in before pulling out her earbuds.

 

Amy genuinely had no intention of interacting with him again for the rest of the night.  Her plans were to try and take a cat nap on this flight and the second they landed in New York, she was going to get a cab home, turn off her phone and spend the next day alone.

 

She watched Dan roll his eyes, mumbling something beneath his breath as he dropped into the chair beside her.  
  


As if he had anything to fucking mumble about.

  
Sometimes he just really got on her last fucking nerve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know where Selina's sudden hatred of Amy spawned from this last season. It was uncalled for as hell and it's not something I enjoyed, which is why this chapter was particularly heavy when it came to those two; I don't think that Selina genuinely hates Amy. I think she was going through some shit and blamed everyone around her for it instead of herself (and Richard). I personally saw these two as a weird mother/daughter relationship seeing as they spend more time together than they do with their respective mother/daughter. I just needed to fix what the writers decided to unnecessarily fuck up.
> 
> Anyhow, I promise the next chapter will be 1. longer 2. obviously more Dan/Amy centric. Thanks for all of the kudos and comments so far, they're appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

There was a collective groan of disdain as the one stewardess on the plane made an announcement over the speakers. There was a fucking snow storm derailing their flight and they were going to have to make an emergency stop in Detroit.

 

Dan shook Amy awake, rolling his eyes as she slapped his hand away.

 

“Fuck off.” She groaned as she sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“There’s some goddamn freak snowstorm and we’re landing in Michigan for the night.” He replied as he turned his attention back to his phone.

“It’s the middle of the winter. There’s no such thing as freak snowstorm, Dan. It’s a good thing the morning show didn’t make you do the weather. That’d have been a real disaster.”

“Haha, very funny.”

 

He waited for her to respond and instead of doing so, she unbuckled her seat belt and stood. Gary appeared a few seconds later, looking downtrodden as he dropped into her previously empty seat.

 

“What’s with the horse face?” Dan asked, solely to get the insult out. He really didn’t give a shit about what was bothering Gary.

“I offered to find a hotel near the airport but Selina insisted Amy do it.”

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock. She’s the campaign manager. This is her job.”

 

Gary nodded quietly in response.

 

A beat passed before he spoke again.

 

“So how are you going to co-parent?”

 

Dan could feel the blood drain from his face as he felt Gary’s eyes on him.  
_  
Gary_ fucking knew? She’d told him that nobody knew he was the father. If Gary knew, that meant Selina _definitely_ fucking knew.  Amy had fucking _lied_ to him and the fact of the matter was that he was fucking pissed. There was no other way to put it.

 

“Mind your own goddamn business, Gary. Don't ever fucking bring this up again.”

“Okay, okay. I was just trying to make small talk, god! It's just so exciting to have a bab -”

“Shut the fuck up!” He snapped, a little more loudly than he intended to.

“Lose the fucking attitude, Dan.” He overheard Selina call from a few rows over. “There's only room for one diva on this team and it's definitely not you.”

 

Dan shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

 

If he wanted to cause a scene, he knew this was not the right time. He needed to at least _try_ and simmer the fuck down because if he didn't, he might snap at the wrong person and the last time he did that, he was out of a job.

 

That wasn't something he could risk.

* * *

Amy had to make several goddamn calls before she could find a hotel with enough room for all of them. Between the team and Selina’s secret service detail, it totaled up to twelve. Granted they only needed rooms for ten, that was still a lot of fucking people considering that every flight had been grounded.

 

“The men can all share a room, who gives a shit about them.” Selina said as she looked over the iPad in Amy’s hand.

“It's like you read my mind.” She responded, before booking the four rooms.

*****

The moment she entered her hotel room, she kicked off her heels and collapsed onto the bed.

It was nearing three a.m. and she was fucking exhausted. The forecast was predicting it to snow for most of the upcoming day, meaning that much to Selina’s dismay, their earliest bet at leaving would be later that night. Amy was perfectly fine with that. The longer it took for them to fly out, the more time she had to sleep in and _not_ have to deal with anyone, especially not Dan.

It wasn't like anyone else would try and get her up anyway. She knew that with nothing to do but sit around and wait for time to pass, Selina would also end up sleeping in. It wasn't like she was much of an early riser to begin with. If there was something Amy had learned about Selina in her time with her it was that she would rather work on no sleep than have had to wake up at the ass crack of dawn after sleeping three hours.

 

She groaned, remembering that her cell was dying and she would need to put it to charge just in case there was a chance that the storm passed before nightfall. Of course she was the one in charge of rounding everyone up should that happen, so she had to be sure there was some way to reach her.

Amy stood, grabbing her purse and shuffling through it.

 

“Where the fuck...is my charger?” She mumbled to herself as she searched her bag.

 

She dumped the contents of her bag into the bed, charger nowhere to be found. She groaned as she realized she had left it on the plane. It took a moment before she realized that Gary had an extra charger.

He always carried a fucking extra in his bag.

She scrolled through the reservation she had made and pinpointed the mens’ room number before heading down there. She stepped out of the elevator and nearly collided with Gary himself.

 

“Gary, I need your extra iPhone charger.”

He eyed her momentarily before rummaging through the leviathan and pulling out the cord.

“No arguing? No questions?” She asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. It wasn't like Gary to hand something over from his precious fucking bag without any sort of questioning. She was surprised he didn't make people sign a goddamn form when he lent them something.

“Selina says I'm supposed to do whatever you ask me to do without any question.” He replied, cross his arms.

“Ok...well thanks. I’ll give it back tomorrow.”

 

She left him there before heading back up to the floor above where her room was located. She stepped out of the elevator and made her way to her room. She looked up from her phone to realize that Dan was standing in front of her fucking room door.

 

She rolled her eyes as she approached.

 

“What the fuck do you want, Dan?” Amy asked as she reached him. She watched as he jumped in response, not having realized she was behind him.

“Jesus, you’d think for someone as loud as you are I would have heard you come down the fucking hall.”

“Can you move so I can get into my room.”

It wasn't a question, it was direction. She waited a second before he stepped out of her way before she slid her key into the door and walked into her room, shutting the door in his face.

“Come on, Ames.”

He _knocked_ on the door; she was surprised he wasn't banging. Dan was obnoxious enough to bang on the fucking door because she wasn't letting him in.

She ignored his knocking and set her phone to charge before taking a long, hot shower.

 

Twenty minutes later when she exited the shower she noted that the knocking had died down but when she checked her phone she had several texts from him.

Amy groaned as she walked over to the door and pulled it open, finding Dan sitting on the floor, up against the wall.

“What do you want?” She asked she looked down at him.

“Let me sleep in your room. There's not enough space in that other room for fucking five of us and Ben snores and Kent can't sleep without white noise playing in the background.” He said as he stood and leaned against the door frame.

“You're sleeping on that pullout couch.” She responded, rolling her eyes as she stepped aside and let him into the room.

 

She really should have just told him to fuck off, but she knew he was probably just as tired as she was. It wasn't like he would sleep on the plan anyway. All of the times she had ever travelled with Dan, he had never once slept on a flight, no even the long haul ones.

Besides, Dan hated Leon as much as she did and she figured she would spare him a _few_ hours of being in the same goddamn surroundings as that fucking leech.

 

He stopped in front of her so that she was pressed against the door. She could feel her heart start to race as he leaned toward her ear, planting one hand against the door.

 

“You're a doll, Ames.”  He said.

 

She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck start to rise and she really fucking hated him for being able to do this to her.

 

“You owe me one.” She replied, swallowing hard before going under his arm and getting into bed. “Turn the fucking light off when you go to bed.” Amy said as she settled in, making sure to turn her back to him.

* * *

He honestly had her right where he wanted her.

Amy could never really say no to him, not in times of strife.

She had a soft spot for him and he was perfectly fucking aware of that.

Why wouldn't he use it to his advantage?

Especially now when he knew he was on thin ice with her.

She couldn't really be _that_ upset with him if she was letting him share a room with her; granted he would have preferred to share the bed with her as opposed to sleeping on the pull out, but he was going to take what he could get.

*****

He had underestimated how tired he had been. Dan hadn't the slightest clue what time it was when he had finally managed to fall asleep, but it was half past one when he finally came around. The most bizarre part of it all was that Amy was still sleeping too.   


He checked his phone, knowing that if there had been any sort of movement on the status of their flight, he would have had some message about it.

There were none.

He texted Gary, knowing that if anyone out of their group were to somewhat alert, it would be Selina’s lapdog.

 

_Flight status?_

_TBA. Did u just wake up? Everyone else is still sleeping, Selina included...I thought she was dead for a sec…_

 

Dan rolled his eyes at Gary’s response.

Did everything ultimately have to be about Selina with him? Jesus fucking Christ.

He chose to end the conversation and not respond as he pocketed his cell, standing from the couch he had slept on and stretching before he walked over to the bed.

 

Even in her sleep, Amy looked annoyed. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were slightly parted, almost as if she was in the middle of telling him to go fuck himself. Dan shook his head as he sat down on the edge of the bed and gave her a gentle shake.

 

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. It's well past your usual fucking time to rise.”

 

He watched as she curled into herself, groaning before pulling the pillow over her head. He heard an unintelligible mumble.

Dan rolled his eyes, pulling the pillow away from her.

 

“Hey!”

“It's literally almost two pm, get your ass out of bed.”

“Has our flight status changed?”

“No.”

“Then I'm fucking sleeping in.”

“You _have_ slept in, sweetie.”

 

Amy glared at him at the use of that pet name. He smirked.

 

“Come on, we can grab brunch or whatever, it's on me.”

“Fine.”

* * *

First of all, it was cold as fuck in Detroit and her coat was not enough to keep her from shivering.

 

When they had disembarked from the plane in the early hours of the day, she hadn't thought about grabbing her carry on. She figured it would only be a few hours until they would be back on board. Clearly as she waited for a cab beside Dan, outside of the hotel in yesterday’s clothing, she had been wrong.

 

Second of all, she could hear her stomach fucking _growling_.

She probably should have eaten something before the event the previous night, but the fact that she had planned on telling Dan about her pregnancy had made her incredibly nauseous.

Now that she had gotten that out of the way, she really couldn't wait to get something to eat on his dime.

 

“Jesus, you sure it's a human and not a fucking lion in there?” Dan asked as her stomach growled again, loud enough for him to hear as he pulled open the door of the cab.

“With your genetics god knows what the fuck it actually is.” She retorted, rolling her eyes as she slid into the back seat of the cab, pressing herself against the opposite door.

 

She just needed there to be space between them.

 

Amy pulled out her cell in attempts to keep her occupied, giving her an excuse to not have to interact with him.  She could feel him watching her and completely ignored him.

 

The cab came to a stop in front of a small diner; apparently it was the best place in town. The driver had babbled about it for a few minutes after Dan had told him where they were headed.

They walked into the small diner, finding it packed with people waiting to be seated.

She groaned.

 

“Watch this.” Dan responded winking at her before approaching the young hostess at the front of the line.

 

Amy watched as he sidled up to her, turning on that stupid charm of his that got women wet for him in a matter of seconds.

If only that poor girl would realize he was using her for his advantages.

She watched as he slipped the girl his number before waving her over.

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She hissed once they were seated in a booth and their server had left them alone.

 

Dan shrugged in response.

 

“She’s cute. Might as well return the favor if we end up being stuck here another night.”

“That's funny considering you don't even have a room to fuck anyone in.”

“What's your point?”

“I don't know why I even said anything.” She responded, rolling her eyes as she held her menu high enough to hide behind.

 

It only took a few seconds before he had swooped in and pulled the menu from her hands.

 

“I swear to god if you keep pulling things out of my fucking hands _I will stab you._ ” She hissed as she reached for the menu, only to have him hold it out of her grasp.

“I love getting you so worked up.” He responded, smirking as he handed the menu back to her.

“You're a fucking asshole, you know that right?”

“This asshole’s buying your lunch so I figured I’d get a little bang for my buck.”

“Fuck you.”

She turned her attention back to the menu.

“Fucking me was what got us here to begin with.”

“Yeah and that was clearly a mistake.” She quipped in response, looking up to find him slightly annoyed at her answer. “Oh, not so heartless now, huh? Did I hurt your feelings, Danny?”

She could tell her was holding back from responding and was relieved when their server returned, ready to take their orders.

 

“Hey pretty lady, what can I get for your today?”

 

She had to be at least nineteen and the fact that this teenager was being overly friendly grated at Amy’s nerves.

 

“I’ll have a short stack with a side of hash browns and bacon. Make sure that bacon is crisp and I’ll take a ginger ale to drink.”

“What kind of syrup do you want? We have maple, blueberry, raspberry, str -”

“Let’s keep it simple. Maple is fine, we don't need any of that fancy shit.”

“And for you pretty boy?” The server said as she turned to face Dan.

“Can I get a burger and fries. No pickles, fries well done, extra bacon and a Diet Coke.”

“Polar opposites.” She chuckled as she took their menus. “I’ll go ahead and get those orders in for you two!”

“To be that young and naive again.” Amy murmured to herself as she scrolled through her phone.

* * *

“How hard is it to make a burger without any fucking pickles?” Dan groaned as he picked said pickles off of his bun.

It was force of habit to check for them after biting into a burger only to find them lurking beneath the bun one too many times.

 

They sat in silence for most of the meal, the energy between them clearly off due to the circumstances.

 

It was fucking weird. Even when she was most irritated with him in the past, it was only a few minutes before she would read an article and send it to him, or start reading it out loud.

A quiet Amy was not an Amy he liked.

 

“You hate pickles.” He commented as he watched her spear the discarded pickles on his plate with her fork.

“The parasite doesn't.” She responded, shrugging as she popped them into her mouth.

“You sure it's mine?”

 

She glared at him before responding.

 

“Kids like to do the opposite of their parents as rebellion. Mike’s daughter refuses to learn how to read, Catherine’s the most boring and monogamous person on the planet, and _my_ kid likes pickles.”

“You mean _our_ kid.”

“Just because I told you of its existence doesn't mean you have any claim over it. I already told you that _I_ will decide when the conversation on that happens. I know you, Dan. Your persistency isn't going to work with me on this. Stop trying to fucking push me on this when I’ve already told you to wait. _Jesus Christ._ ”

He watched as she grabbed her coat and purse before angrily walking away.

 

Dan sighed, pulling on his coat and dropping a fifty on the table before following her out.

 

“What is your fucking deal?”

“ _You._ You are my fucking deal! You're fucking smothering me since I told you I was pregnant. It hasn't even been 24 hours and I've been dealing you literally non-stop since then.”

 

She was yelling at him, her nose scrunched up like it did whenever she was pissed and he honestly wouldn't have been surprised if she hit him at some point.

 

“You rather I show no interest at all? Is that what you fucking want?”

“I'm not the fucking bad guy here. I just need some goddamn space. Why is that so fucking hard for you to understand?”

  
He scoffed in response. She really knew how to drive him fucking _insane_ sometimes.   


“You're acting like I forced myself onto you. You had options. You could have switched seats with someone on the plane, you could have told me to fuck off when I asked to sleep on your room, you could have passed on coming here with you. Nobody put a fucking gun to your head, Amy.”

“Just leave me the fuck alone, alright?”

“Yeah, whatever the fuck you want.” He snapped.

 

Dan watched as Amy opened her mouth in attempt to respond before immediately shutting it. She crossed her arms and turned on her heel as two black cars stopped in front of them.

 

“Hurry the fuck up!” Selina called as she rolled the window down. “There’s only room for one of you in here and you can sure as shit guess it's not you Dan.” She continued as Amy made her way toward the car.

 

He rolled his eyes and waited a moment before heading toward the second car.

* * *

“Are you _crying?_ ”

“As if.” Amy scoffed as she quickly wiped at her eyes before responding.

Goddamn pregnancy hormones.

 

“You know, Dan reminds me of Andrew when he was younger. Just as fucking persistent. Show him you're the one deciding making decisions. Don't let him pester you until you fucking give in.”

“Ma’am, Tom James would like to schedule a one-on-one with you to talk about making some donations toward your pre-campaign, campaign.”

“Give me that phone.” Selina responded, stretching out her hand for her cell. Amy intercepted the phone as Gary attempted to hand it over to Selina.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?”

“Don't let him pester you until you fucking give in.” She replied, mimicking the exact sentence she had just been told previously before. “He’s been trying to reach out to you ever since you got back on the market.”

“Yeah, and it's been two months of me _choosing_ to ignore him. This isn't me giving in, this is me telling him who is in charge. So give me my phone.”

 

Amy rolled her eyes as she handed Selina her phone.

Whatever mess Selina would herself into with Tom James was not hers to deal with.

It was Dan’s.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever write a veep fic that doesn't at some point bring up Tom James? (Probably not because my favorite man on this planet plays him!) ANYWAY, back to the topic of this story! I felt it necessary for Amy to finally blow up at him for not leaving her the fuck alone. Dan really does think that he can get her to talk when HE wants to, but that's not going to work. As always, kudos and comments are always appreciated. Im awful at responding to them but I DO love hearing your thoughts so far. Thanks for reading!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im only writing this note to let ya'll know that when i was writing this, i pictured tatiana maslany as the girl on the subway, good day.

Waiting for Amy to talk to him about their situation was fucking exhausting.

It wasn't like she was ignoring him; she wasn't, at all. 

They were spending a lot of time together while working, more so than usual, almost always seated together while they discussed whatever the game plan for the day was.

 

But that was it. 

Everything was solely work related. The moment they were doing with their current project, Amy was immediately out the door.

  
She flat out  _ refused  _ to go out with him without someone else from the team being present. 

It was driving him fucking insane. He really had no intention of bringing up anything in relation to the parasite. He just wanted to be able to go out to dinner with her and unwind like they had before any of this had ever happened. It had always been their thing to go out for drinks together or grab a bite to eat after a long day, just the two of them. 

The constant presence of other people was grating at Dan’s last fucking nerve. 

It was like she was using them as a buffer.

She was  _ protecting  _ herself from him.

 

She was acting like there wasn't an elephant in the room whenever they were together. As if she wasn't nearly five months pregnant with  _ his _ fucking child.

He noted that she was actually fucking  _ glowing _ . Dan had always thought that it was just some bullshit to make pregnant women feel better about losing their figure. Catherine had definitely not had the glow during her pregnancy, any time he had seen anything in relation to her, he thought she looked like the life was being sucked out of her but Amy… Amy did and it was frankly scaring the shit out of him.

That goddamn  _ glow  _ wasn't a figment of his fucking imagination, it was a reminder that this was a reality. She was really pregnant with  _ his _ spawn.

Jesus.

 

“Can you stop fucking staring at her like that?” 

 

Dan nearly jumped out of his skin when Selina appeared beside him, leaning against the front corner of the desk he was seated behind as she sipped her coffee. 

 

He had developed a habit of coming out from his office onto the main floors to check out the influx of college interns they had added on to save money. 

He hadn't even realized that he had been watching Amy from across the room as she talked to one of the interns.

 

“Man up and stop fucking pining, you pussy.” She continued as she set her coffee down on his desk and crossed her arms.

 

“What do you want, Selina?” He asked as he rolled his eyes.

“First of all, don't roll your eyes at me. You're not a goddamn teenage boy and I am sure as shit not your mother. Secondly,  _ what I want is for you to stop staring at her like that,  _ you stupid fuck. There's a whole four,” she paused before continuing, “well three and a half, if we’re counting Gary, people in these offices who know the paternity of that child. You keep staring at her like that and they're gonna figure it out soon enough.” 

“You mean to tell me that the other half of the team doesn't know?” He replied, leaning forward, suddenly interested in what she was saying.

“They obviously have suspicions, Danny boy. The only person who would have been oblivious enough to not no longer works here, remember? And while none of them are as stupid as Mike was, let’s face it. Kent couldn't give less of a shit about anything but his precious data, Leon is still trying to get over his hard on for Amy, and Ben...Ben’s just trying to make it to the end of the day without having a heart attack. None of them are gonna do any fucking probing to really find out. The interns though, that's a different story.” 

“Why do you suddenly care so much about Amy when you treated her like shit for an entire year?”

 

He watched as she paused, pursing her lips as she turned to full face him, her palms flat against his desk as she leveled her face with his. 

 

“Amy and I have a complicated friendship….Not that you would understand anything about friendships since you have no friends, but before she is my friend she is my campaign manager. My being elected president next year is all on her hands. A good campaign manager cannot do her job if the interns don't respect her because they're too busy trying to brown nose into whether or not her  _ sperm donor  _ is someone on the campaign team. Now, knowing you, you've probably never been around a pregnant woman a day in your life. Do you know how stressful it is to have this parasite inside of you? Telling you when to eat, when to fucking piss. Because it's incredibly fucking stressful. If she’s off her game for a goddamn  _ second _ because of things she can't control, that can throw everything off completely. I've known about her pregnancy for over two months now and she's yet to let me down. If she loses her concentration at all, that's on fucking you because the only thing that's changed in those two months is the fact that you're now aware of your entanglement in this. She can handle the stress of this job perfectly fine, any  _ other _ stress would be emotional and well,” she clicked her tongue, “that's not my department. So She finished, shrugging as she picked up her coffee.

“You're insane.” He retorted as she started to walk away.

“And you're an asshole.” She called over her shoulder.

 

He watched as Selina approached Amy and the intern she was speaking with, getting between the two and looking over at the papers they were marking up on the table. He saw Amy make some sort of comment and roll her eyes, Selina laughing in response as she gave Amy’s arm a warm squeeze.

 

He would never understand how the  _ fuck _ Amy could deal with Selina and her moods the way she did, but from the way things were currently going between them, clearly Amy was on Selina’s good side again. He however was not on either one of their good sides and the only way to get into Selina’s good side would be getting on Amy’s. Which would be a thousand times easier  _ if she would just fucking talk to him _ . 

 

Dan stood from the desk, letting out an irritated huff as he made his way towards the kitchen, actively going out of his way to avoid passing Leon’s office. 

 

There was something about him that didn't sit right with Dan and he wanted to avoid him at all fucking costs. The guy was too fucking shady to be trusted. For him to so easily agreeing to join on as Selina’s speech writer, after working against her for so long, he had to be up to something . 

* * *

There was only so long she could go without approaching Dan before it became too cruel, even if he deserved it.

At the end of the day, if he decided to be a part of this brat’s life, then that was something she would benefit from. Co-parenting with anyone, even if it was Dan, would be easier than trying to raise a child on her fucking own. There was no  _ fucking _ way she was going to end up like Sophie if he decided he didn't want any part in this. Amy was hellbent on doing everything in her goddamn power to make sure that she didn't end up like fucking Sophie.  
  


“I’m going to grab a snack, do you need anything while I’m in the kitchen, ma’am?” 

“No, I’m good, Ames.” Selina responded, not turning her attention away from the paperwork that the intern was showing her. 

 

They had hired on a whole slew of interns, making sure to diversify their team and choosing candidates of all races, sexes, sexualities, and college majors. 

After Selina’s whole scene at the hospital about her grandson being half black, and Marjorie being her daughter's Native American, lesbian life partner, it was decided that one of the key points in her campaign would be inclusiveness. Whatever it took to make them look less racist, sexist, and discriminatory than whomever would end up being the presumptive candidates for the opposing party. 

 

She walked into the kitchen, finding Dan bent over, examining the contents of the refrigerator and she stood beside the door and waited for him to get out of her way. She chuckled when he closed the door and startled at the sight of her.

 

“You and Medusa really need to stop fucking doing that.” 

“If you hate her so much, why are you working for her again?” Amy asked as she circled around him, knowing the real answer to that question and  _ knowing _ that Dan would never say it out loud.

“The money.” He retorted as she rummaged through the fridge, setting her sights on a jell-o cup. 

 

She rolled her eyes as she straightened out, nudging Dan out of her way with an elbow as he was standing directly in front of the cabinet where they kept utensils.

 

“Right.” She responded as she grabbed a spoon before taking a deep breath and turning to face him. “So, I have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday afternoon and,” she paused, letting out a sigh, “you're welcome to be there, if you want.” She said before turning and heading back towards the conference room.

 

The thought of having him with her at her next ultrasound was one that made Amy feel physically  _ ill, _ but it was an offer she had to make. This was her one and only attempt at extending an olive branch.

 

“Just let me know the time and place and I’ll see what I can do.” 

 

She stopped in her tracks.

 

“Don't fucking do that. Just say yes or no, I don't have the energy to stress on whether or not you're going to stand me up on this. I know you've been waiting for me to fucking decide to talk to you about this and this is me telling you when.”

“Amy, I’ll be there.” He said as he stopped beside her, placing a hand on her elbow.

 

She detested the fact that his touch sent a shock through her entire body. 

 

Amy looked up at him and nodded before continuing her trek back across the offices. She really wanted to believe him, to  _ trust _ him, but she knew better.

 

“Okay, well it's in the upper west side -”

“Jesus, you couldn't find one on this side of town?”

“Obviously not, you dipshit. Do you really think I would trudge to the other side of town if I could avoid it?” She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Well, we can just take the subway, or an uber.”

  
She scoffed.

 

“An  _ uber _ ? Do you know how expensive an uber over there is? It's like fifty bucks.  _ You _ can take an uber. I’ll take the subway.”

 

Amy pushed open the door to the conference room and promptly occupied the closest empty chair as they waited for everyone else to eventually file in for some bullshit meeting about how to broaden Selina’s social media presence. 

 

She felt herself relax when Dan chose the chair farthest away from her. 

* * *

He took the subway. He fucking  _ hated _ taking the subway. The amount of people alone was enough to make his skin crawl and on top of that it made him claustrophobic. A year had not changed the fact that he was still used to driving himself around in his own fucking car, or being driven around in Selina’s motorcade.

So he left an hour before he actually needed to, in hopes of finding it less crowded.

 

“Aren't you Danny Egan?”   
  


He looked up from his iPhone to the woman in front of him. She was at least five years younger than him, brown eyes, with wild curly brown hair.

“Yeah, that's me.” He responded, shrugging.

“Oh, cut the shit dude. I know your real name is Dan. Changing it to Danny was a dumb move. You're a grown man, not a child.” She retorted, flashing him a coy smile. 

  
She was  _ definitely  _ flirting with him.

  
“Do I know you from somewhere?”

 

She was too friendly for him to not have seen her before.

 

“We fucked once.” She responded, nonchalantly. “Then you ghosted me.”

He was mentally going through the list of women he could have slept with and then disappeared on. He couldn't place this one to save his life.

“You don't remember me? Hm, guess we’ll just have to have a do over, won't we?”

She smirked him and he watched as she pulled out a business card from her wallet and handed it to him. The train came to a stop and she winked at him before getting off at the current stop.

  
He pocketed the card, shaking his head. 

  
Dan never really had to try too hard to get laid when he wanted to, but the fact that this had fallen so easily into his lap was not an opportunity he was going to take for granted.

 

He got off at the next stop, giving him time to scope out the area. There was some weird vegan coffee shop on one corner and a spa for  _ dogs _ across the street from it. He rolled his eyes. Catherine had to have been the one to tell Amy about this doctor. There was no way she had found this hipster neighborhood on her own. He found a normal coffee shop two blocks up, closer to the doctor’s office and he figured he would kill some of the time he had to spare.

Dan walked in to find Amy at the counter, phone pressed to her ear as she handed her card over to the cashier. He could see the annoyance written all over her face as she listened to whoever was on the other line. 

 

“Hey stranger.” He said as he came up behind her, smirking as she jumped.

“I have to go, we’ll discuss this later.” She said hastily as she ended the phone call and slipped her phone into her pocket. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Wanted to make a good impression and be on time to this appointment.”

“Right. Sure you weren't just stalking me?”

  
He rolled his eyes.

 

“If you don't want me here, I can just as easily leave.”

He studied her for a moment as she bit her lip before sighing and turning her attention back to the counter as she waited for her coffee.

“Do you want me here or not, Amy?” He asked, annoyed.

“It's not about whether or not I want you here.” She hissed at him as she grabbed her coffee and headed towards the door.

“Then what the fuck is it about?”

“It's about this kid, Dan. I don't want it to end up like Sophie’s kids and barely know their fucking dad. If you want to be around, that's fine with me, even if  _ I  _ personally don't want to be around you.”

“When are we gonna talk about this? When are we gonna fucking get a chance to lay everything out on the table, Amy? Because I’m tired of your bullshit. I thought  _ you  _ were supposed to be the grown-up here, but clearly that's not the case.” 

“You want to put everything out on the table?” She scoffed, shaking her head. “Fine, Dan. We can do that. Whatever. Let's just get this appointment over with and  _ then _ we can do that.”

* * *

She could feel her blood boiling as he sat beside her in the waiting room of her doctor’s office. Amy was still reeling from the argument they had had a few minutes prior. There was nothing more ridiculous than  _ Dan Egan  _ of all people calling her immature, because he was  _ obviously  _ the right person to make that kind of distinction.   
  


“Can you calm down, you anxious fuck?” He said as he placed a hand on her knee to get her to stop bouncing her leg.

“Don't fucking touch me.” She snapped, angling herself away from him. 

“Don't be like that, babe.”   
  


She grit her teeth, resisting the urge to elbow him in the groin. He really knew how to test her fucking patience at the most inopportune times. 

 

It was only a few minutes later that her name was called and they were ushered into an exam room. Amy hated the fucking sterility of an exam room. It was just unnatural. She hated everything about going to the doctor.  
  


“Alright, so we need to weigh you.” The tech said as she adjusted the weights on the scale.

“Get out.” 

“Come on, Ames.”

“ _ Out _ .” She repeated, crossing her arms as she watched Dan roll his eyes and walk out of the room. She stepped out of her heels and onto the scale, watching as the tech fidgeted with the weights. The other woman raised an eyebrow and scribbled something down onto her chart.

 

“Why are you making that face?”

“I'm not making any face. We need to take your blood pressure so if you can please take a seat.”

 

She had her blood pressure taken and again, watched as the tech’s eyebrow rose as she made another note.

 

“I’ll let your husband know he can come back in.” She said as she exited the room

“He’s not my husband.” She mumbled to the empty room. 

“Hey baby cakes.” Dan greeted, winking at her as he re-entered the room and dropped into the chair beside the exam table she was seated on.

“If you give me one more fucking pet name today, I will castrate you.”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Brookheimer!” 

  
Dr. Thompson was always a little too chipper for Amy’s liking; there was no reason anyone should ever be so fucking happy all the time. It figured that the doctor Catherine had recommended had all the warmth and light her mother was lacking. 

 

“Hi, Dr. Thompson.” 

“And is this handsome young man your partner?” 

  
Amy cringed at Dan’s smirk as he stood and shook hands with the doctor.

 

“Dan Egan, pleasure to meet you.”

“You were that news anchor on CBS this morning right? My husband was bummed to see you go.”

“Please don't feed into his ego.”

“Right.” Dr. Thompson responded, breaking the handshake and turning her attention to Amy’s chart. “So you've actually lost a bit of weight since your last appointment and your blood pressure was a little too high for my liking. Has anything changed in the last month since you've been here?”

“I mean, there’s someone else with me today, so yeah  _ something _ has changed.”

“Okay, well...I know your job is incredibly stressful as it is, so try to avoid any added stress.”

 

She watched as Dr. Thompson gave Dan the once over.

 

“Have your eating habits changed?”

“Uhm, I can't keep anything down right now.”

“Okay. I'm going to give you some pre-natal vitamins and something help with the nausea. I'm gonna need you to try and gain a few pounds in the next few weeks, okay?”

 

Amy nodded, already feeling herself start to stress over this. Just what she fucking needed, another point on the list of things to worry about.  
  


“Alright. So lay back and un-tuck your blouse so we can get this ultrasound done and get you two out of here.”

 

Amy un-tucked her blouse and inhaled sharply as that fucking cold gel was squirted across her flesh. Dr. Thompson pressed the wand against her abdomen, as she fidgeted with one of the knobs on the ultrasound machine.

 

A light thumping sound filled the room.

 

“Heartbeat is strong, that's always a good sign.”

“That’s it's heart beating?” 

 

Amy had all but forgotten that Dan was in the room. She turned her head to get a look at him, surprised to find his full attention on the machine’s screen.

 

“I'm taking it this is your first?” 

 

Amy’s attention snapped back to her doctor, who was looking between them with an amused smirk.

 

“And last.” Amy responded.

“Did you still want to know the sex?” 

“Well, it's the entire reason I dragged the father along, so yeah.”

“Wait, what if I don't want to know?”

“The door’s right there, Dan.”

 

She rolled her eyes when he didn't get up and leave.

 

“Anyway…” Dr. Thompson responded, clearing her throat. “It's a girl.” 

 

It would be some karmic bullshit for Dan’s only child to be a girl, considering the way he treated women and Amy couldn't help but laugh.  
  
Of course.  

_ Of fucking course _ . 

She turned to give him a quick glance, smirking as she noted that the blood had drained from his face.

That's exactly what he fucking deserved.

* * *

He really wasn't going to catch a break with this. What the fuck did he know about little girls? Boys were a different story,  _ he _ had been one at some point in time. It wasn't like he had had a sister or any female cousins when he was growing up. It had just been him and his brother. 

“Karma’s a bitch.” 

 

He looked over at her, finding the biggest shit eating grin plastered across her features. 

 

“Well you two are free to go. I know your schedule is pretty hectic, so I’ll try to squeeze you in again in about three weeks. Remember what I said about the stress, Amy.”  Dr. Thompson instructed as she handed Amy some paper towels and looked between the two. She pulled out a pen and a prescription pad, scribbling something onto it before tearing it off and handing it to Amy. “When you check out, ask Mindy about the vitamins.”

 

Dan watched as Amy nodded, wiping the gel off of her skin and tucking her shirt back in before hopping off of the exam table and grabbing her purse.

He followed behind her as she walked out of the room and over to the receptionist desk.

It was always interesting to witness Amy interacting with people outside of their field. She wasn't as  _ abrasive _ with them. She didn't need to be as demanding as she was when she was dealing with politicos, or donors. There was something about her that was  _ softer _ ; as much as Amy would hate to ever admit it, there were parts of her that were soft and he knew that. 

 

“What are we doing?” He asked, grabbing her by the elbow as they waited for an uber.

“Well, you're buying me dinner and then we’re gonna scream at each other an hour later.” She responded, pulling her arm away as she furiously typed at her screen.

“Why am  _ I _ buying dinner?”

“You wanna reimburse me the two hundred dollars I just dropped for that ultrasound? You really don't have any clue how expensive being pregnant is, do you?” She scoffed, pocketing her cell as she looked up at him.

“Jesus, two hundred dollars for  _ that _ ?”

“Yeah and that prescription for the nausea medication is gonna be another like, hundred and fifty cause the insurance won't cover it. You spending fifty bucks on dinner is no big deal.”

“I’ll cover your medication.” 

“I’ll pass.”

“Stop being so fucking stubborn. You’re standing here bitching about how expensive this is and I'm offering to help. It's not like you got pregnant on your own.”

 

He watched as she raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she eyed him.

 

“Fine, but don't think this means anything, because it doesn't.”

“Right.”

 

The only reason he was offering was because of the guilt. He actually felt fucking guilty at the fact that he was causing her so much extra stress. Ever since Selina had cornered him the previous week, he had one some reading on the effects of stress on pregnant women. The biggest thing about extra stress was that it could lead to miscarriage. As unwanted as this child was, he knew Amy. He knew that she wanted this baby from the moment she made the decision to keep it, regardless of whether or not he wanted anything to do with it. He didn't want her to go through the physical pain of losing it, or the emotional trauma, and he sure as hell didn't want to be at blame for it. If he could do something to at least help prevent that, this was step one.

 

“So pharmacy or dinner first?” He asked, looking down at his watch. “It's only five.”

“Well Dandroid, it’s anti-nausea medication and eating first would make me nauseous, so obviously the pharmacy first. They sent an electronic script to the Duane Reade near my place.”

  
  


It took the uber over an hour to trek across town and they spent that entire hour on opposite sides of the back seat, both glued to their phones. The only conversation they had was about ordering delivery to Amy’s place once they realized how long it was actually going to take them to get there. The last time Dan had been in a pharmacy with Amy had been years ago, when she was buying pregnancy tests for Selina. He found it comical that then he had thought she had been pregnant and now here they were, with her actually being pregnant, with  _ his _ child. 

It was still really hard to believe.

 

“Brookheimer.”  Amy said as they reached the counter, not bothering to look up from her phone.

“The insurance won't cover it.” The pharmacist said as she scanned the package.

“Oh, I know.”

“It's a hundred and eighty.”

“Jesus fucking christ. It’s fuckin' anti-nausea pills, not aids medication.” Dan responded, shaking his head as he pulled out his wallet. “This better be some upscale shit for it to cost so much when Pepto bismol is less than five dollars a bottle.” He continued, handing his credit card over.

“Ignore him. He's getting a taste of his own medicine, no pun intended.” Amy retorted as she grabbed the bag and shoved it into her purse. 

 

Dan finished signing for the transaction and followed her out.

 

“Is that for a month’s worth?”

“It's take as needed so god knows how long it’ll last.” 

“Is it really...that bad?”

“If it weren't that bad I wouldn't have taken that prescription. Clearly, if I've lost weight instead of gaining it, it's that bad, Dan.” 

“Well, you better pop one of them ASAP so you keep your dinner down. Can't wait to convince Gary to bake more often.”

“Fuck off.” 

“Give me a break, Ames. I'm just trying to help you out here.” 

 

She paused at the bottom of the stairs at the front of her townhouse. 

 

“I don't know who you think you're fooling, Dan, but it's not working.”

 

He rolled his eyes before following her up the stairs and inside.

* * *

“Why did you decide to keep it?”

 

She took a deep breath, trying to release the tension in her shoulders before responded.

 

“As of…” She paused, looking at the time before continuing, “three and a half hours ago,  _ it _ is a  _ she _ , so I’d appreciate it if you stopped referring to her as it. Though with your genetics, she might actually not be human.”

 

It was a bad idea for her to start using actual pronouns for this child, instead of referring to it as demon spawn, or something of the sort, but since finding out the gender, a part of her couldn't help it.The only reason she had wanted to find out was because it would make the inevitable baby shopping easier for her. Knowing the gender meant that she knew what to look out for, giving her one less thing to worry about.

 

“Are you going to answer my fucking question or are you going to deflect?” Dan asked, looking at her from across her kitchen table. “Since when do you want kids?”

“It’s something I had been thinking about for a while, okay?”

“Bullshit.”

“You've been so up your own ass the last year and some that you really can't call bullshit on me. It was a thought I never brought up to anyone. Unlike you, I don't actually want to be alone for the rest of my life.”

“So you thought a baby would be a good idea to fill that void?”

“I expected for the baby to come with a partner and a relationship. Single parenting was the last option.”

“Well, I'm here aren't I?”

“You and I are not in a relationship. We had unprotected sex because for some reason I trusted you, and now here we are.”

“We had unprotected sex because you and I both know that you're the only person I would  _ ever _ do that with. I know you're clean and as awful as you think  _ I  _ am, you know I would never give you a fucking STD.”

“An STD I can get rid of. I'm stuck with you until one of us dies.” 

 

Her phone went off and they both turned their attention to the name on her screen.

 

“Why the fuck is Buddy calling you?”

“Because I wanted him to hear it from me and not see it in the press.” 

 

She said as she grabbed her phone and silenced it.   
She swallowed hard.  
This conversation was making her fucking nauseous.  


 

“Are you meeting up with him?”

“God, no and even if I was, it’d be none of your fucking business.” 

“Why are you even bothering to tell him? It's easier if you just let the press break it to him.”

“Because unlike you, I'm not actually fucking heartless. The least I can do is let him know directly from me that I’m pregnant with your spawn.”

“Did you not just tell me ten minutes ago that it had a gender that should be used when referring to it?”

“I'm the one carrying her, I can call her whatever the fuck I want.” She snapped in response as he smirked at her.

“Yeah well, she's half mine.”

“Why are you pretending to care?”

 

He scoffed in response and she raised an eyebrow as he shook his head.

 

“Jesus Christ, Amy. Do you really think I would do this for anyone else? If this had been any other fucking woman, I would have paid for the abortion myself. You think I'm going to just walk away from you and let you deal with this on your own? You hate me. I fucking get it. But this kid deserves to have both of her parents in her life, even if we aren't together. Why the fuck do you think I've been sitting around so patiently for the last fucking month waiting for you to decide to have this conversation? This isn't about you, this is about what's best for this baby. You really want this kid to be as spineless as Catherine because we didn't give her enough attention growing up because we couldn't put our differences aside?”

 

He knew just how to fucking get to her. One of her worst nightmarea was having a kid be as much of a doormat as Catherine Meyer was and she  _ knew _ it was because of the fact that her parents barely her any attention. There was no one around to teach her how to assert herself and she’d be fucking damned if that was the case with any child of hers. 

 

“Don't ever compare this child to Catherine Meyer. She hasn't even been born yet and you're already setting her up for failure. You want to be around for this pregnancy? Fine. But don't think for one fucking second that it means you get to touch me without asking. Stop grabbing me by the elbow, stop pulling things out of my hands. I know you're doing it to annoy me, but you're ten times more fucking annoying now that I’m pregnant so just being around you sometimes is enough to grate at my last nerve. I'm not telling you to stay completely away from me, because well, I might end up needing you but you stress me the fuck out and I need to avoid that. I'm not asking you to be nice to me, I know you're almost completely void of human emotion. I'm just asking you to tone it the fuck down.”

 

She crossed her arms as she watched him process before nodding. 

 

“If you weren't so easy to annoy, I’d be less tempted to annoy you, but yeah, sure, whatever.” 

“You're free to leave.” 

“What are we doing about living arrangements?”

“How about we worry about that later on and you get the fuck out of my house. I'm tired and we have an early start for that event in Rochester.”

 

She all but ushered him out of her front door.  

 

“I’ll let you know when I get home.” He winked at her as she stood in the doorway.

“You really don't have to do that.” 

“I should probably kiss you good night, right?”

“Fuck off.”

 

An hour later her phone lit up with a text from Dan.

__  
Unfortunately for you, I made it home in one piece.  


  
She shook her head, glad that he wasn't around to see the smile she was trying to hide as she responded.

_  
Good night, Dan. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway! hope you guys enjoyed, comments and kudos are always appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

He found a place not too far from their offices. It was a hell of a lot closer than either one of their places and while the lease was more than his current place, it wasn't something that was completely unreasonable considering the size. It was a three bedroom, two bath with a kitchen that was far too big for either one of them, a dining room to seat eight, and a living room.The size was a little over the top, but being who he was, he had no issue with being a little flashy.

He signed a year long lease and added Amy’s name to it.  


“Absolutely fucking not!”  
  


Dan smirked. He had known this was exactly how she was going to react when she found the lease paperwork on her desk, along with a spare key.

 

“You haven't even seen the place. You're gonna love it, Ames.”

“Dan, _you bought an apartment.”_

 

He shrugged.

 

“Come on, it's gonna be a lot easier once the baby’s born if we’re living under the same roof. No one is going to have to be away from their place and have to constantly go back and forth to bring clothes over. You get to sleep in your own bed.”

“I am not moving in with you.”

“It's only temporary. Besides, I didn't actually buy it. I signed a year long lease, that's waiting for your signature, by the way. A year from now we’ll be getting ready to trail the country with Selina for nearly eight months. We should have worked something out by then.”

“You're fucking ridiculous.” She replied, crossing her arms.

 

He stood from his desk and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and directing her to the couch.

 

“It's a nice place. Separate bedrooms, separate bathrooms. There's plenty of space for us to ignore one another.”

“More like plenty of space for you to get off with random women.” She scoffed as she sat down.

“I'm not _that_ disrespectful. Any and all fucking I do wouldn't be anywhere near our little family home.”

“You're disgusting, did you know that?”

“And yet, you would still fuck me again if you got the chance.”

“You’re literally the only pervert who would fuck a pregnant woman you're not dating.”

“It's a little different when she's pregnant with your kid.”

“Right.”

“Just look at the place before you shoot it down completely, alright?”

* * *

“Is Dan a trust fund baby? How the fuck can he afford this place?” Selina asked as she dragged her finger along the pristine marble kitchen top. “God knows working for me didn't pay well.”

“It's the TV money.” Amy responded, as she paced around the living room.

 

It _was_ a nice apartment. She had to give him that. The kitchen was a lot bigger than necessary and the open floor plan allowed for the living room to be in view of it.

 

“He's overcompensating for being a massive prick. At least you're not losing anything from it. One time Andrew bought me a new Porsche for Valentine’s Day...with money out of Catherine’s trust fund. This purely a gain. For both of you.” Selina responded, her eyes moving down to look at Amy’s growing bump as Amy walked into the kitchen. 

“You're lucky, by the way. You carry it well. I looked like a baby elephant when I was pregnant with Catherine.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Anyway, this is a nice place. You're not covering any of the costs of it and it makes your commute closer. God knows I’m going to need you closer to the offices in the next year.”

“I just think that being under the same roof would be a bad idea.”

“Why? Because you're gonna end up fucking? You're already pregnant, can't get any worse than that. Some dick would do you well. Besides, it's not like anyone else is going tinge interested in you. Men don't want to raise another man’s child. Why do you think I didn't _really_ date again until Catherine was in college? Might as well make an arrangement with Dan now so that you're not sexually frustrated for the next eighteen years.”

 

Amy couldn't help but scoff in response as she leaned against the counter.

 

“Believe me, I can manage without him.”

“You two are exhausting. This whole game of back and forth, doesn't it get old? Neither one of you is ever going to find someone who’s so fucking willing to deal with you.”

“I don't know when this conversation veered into one about whether or not Dan and I have feelings for one another but it ends here.”

“I’m just trying to offer some advice, woman to woman.”

“No offense, ma’am but you're really the last person who should be offering anyone relationship advice. You chose your career over your last relationship, which by the way, was the healthiest one I have _ever_ seen you in throughout the last fifteen years, and you’re currently having an affair with your former running mate.”

“You and I both know that my career is my first fucking priority, and I’d throw Catherine under the bus if it meant being president, and she's my flesh and blood. You really think I wouldn't throw away a good man if being with him hurt my chances? And Tom and I aren't having an affair, his sugar baby divorced him after she had that baby, which wasn't even his! At least I’m not depriving myself of a good fuck. But whatever, Amy.”

 

She watched as Selina’s phone lit up and the older woman smirked.

 

“Speaking of...I’m leaving. This is a good place, remember what I told you. Take advantage of the situation, it's the least he can do for you after everything else he's done.”

“Honey, I’m home.”

 

They both turned their heads to watch Dan walk in from the entry hallway.

 

“How long have you been here?” Amy asked, crossing her arms.

“Literally just walked in, hence the announcement.” He responded, walking toward her with his hands in his pockets.

“Anyway, goodbye.” Selina interrupted, eyeing them both.

 

They both watched as she grabbed her purse off of the counter and walked out.

 

“How’s daddy's favorite princess?” He asked, smirking as he tried to lean in to kiss her cheek.

“Uhm, no.” She responded, putting her hand up to stop him. “This is not how you greet me and you and I both know that.”

“I'm just trying to be polite, babe.” He retorted smirking.

“Dan Egan? Polite?” Amy couldn't help but laugh, rolling her eyes. “You're only ever polite when you're trying to get into someone’s pants.”

“So what do you think of the place?”

 

She bit her lip as she contemplated her response. She really did love it, but admitting that would mean admitting that he knew her well enough to pick out an apartment she would love. It would mean admitting to herself that no one would ever know her, or her tastes. as well as he did.

 

“I get the master bedroom.”

“Fine, but we’re sharing the walk-in closet.”

“I forget that you have more clothes than Selina and I combined.”

“Don't act like it's a bad thing. Women love a well dressed man.”

“Too bad they don't know you're a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

* * *

“Mom, I don't want to have a baby shower. It's not at all necessary.”  
  


Dan walked into Amy’s office to find her on the phone with her mother, eyebrows furrowed and nose scrunched up in irritation. He placed a bag of cookies on her desk that she had asked him to pick up from the bakery down the block, before dropping into one of the chairs in front of her desk and propping his feet up. She promptly pushed his feet off of her desk.

“No, we don't need a housewarming party either. We’re going to be in D.C. next week and the movers are going to get all of our stuff in the apartment while we’re gone. You and Sophie don't need to come out here at all.”

  
Dan watched as her shoulders tensed, rising up to her ears as she continued the conversation.

  
“I just don't...fine. Fine, mom. I’ll try and stop by while I’m in D.C. but I can't make any promises, alright? Bye.” She finished the conversation, tossing her phone across her desk and cradling her head in her hands.

 

He stood, closing the door to her office before rounding her desk and leaning against it.

 

“Got your cookies.” 

“Can you just, get out?” She said quietly, her head still in her hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“Like you give a fuck.”

He rolled his eyes, leveling himself with her so that he would be able to get a good look at her.

“Just tell me what the fuck is bothering you, Amy.”  
  
  
He pulled one of her hands away from her face and sighed when he realized she was close to tears. He sighed. It was one thing when other women cried; he could go on about his day, and not feel a pang of guilt or the need to somehow comfort them. But with Amy, it was different. She wasn't just anyone. As much as he _detested_ when women cried, with her, he couldn't just leave her alone. 

 

“Ames.” He brought his hand to her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Spill.”

“I'm just so tired of everyone. Of being pregnant. I'm uncomfortable twenty-four seven, I can't get any sleep, my family won't stop fucking bugging me. These fucking interns are goddamn useless and can't do anything right, I'm just done with everything.” She responded, her voice shaking as she stood.

 

Seeing her like this made him uncomfortable. It also helped him realize that she was finally allowing herself to be vulnerable around him. She was letting her guard down and he needed to make sure he didn't fuck this up.

 

“You’re okay.” Dan said, rubbing her arms in reassurance.

 

Amy’s lower lip began to quake and he pulled her into him.

It was the most physical contact between the two in months. He could feel every part of her pressed against him; her palms clutching his back, her forehead resting against his shoulder as cried into his blazer.

 

“I’ll come to dinner with your parents with you. You're used to incompetence around here, it's clearly not the interns that are bothering you. You're stressing about your family and shit, who can blame you? It's not like they're the greatest group of people to have dinner with.” He continued as he rubbed her back in attempts to soothe her.

 

He had known Amy for almost a decade and he wasn't even sure he had ever seen her cry until this moment.

 

“Jeez, you sure you're not gonna fucking dehydrate from all these tears?” Dan joked in an attempt to fill the silent void as he heard her sniffle.

“You're awful at trying to comfort people.” She responded, pulling away from him and reaching into one of her desk drawers and grabbing some tissues.

“As if you would have rather I just fucking ignored you and left you in here alone.” He retorted, rolling his eyes as she dabbed at her eyes.

“Yeah, I guess you're better than an empty room, but I swear to god if you ever try to hold this against me -”

“Amy, what the _fuck_ is there to hold against you in this scenario? You're stressed and tired, you're allowed to have a meltdown over it. You really think I'm that much of prick that I'm gonna hold that over you?”

“I never know what to expect with you, so it's better safe than sorry.” She shrugged, discarding the tissues into her trash. “Are you serious about coming to dinner?” She continued, biting her lip.

“Yeah, I am. Your family hates me but whatever, they're fucking stuck with me now. Might as well get them used to my presence.”

 

He watched her shake her head, a small smile forming across her lips. At least he had managed to make _some_ sort of difference.

 

“Okay, I’ll let you know once I've got it figured out.”

“You okay, can I go now or do you need me to stick around a little longer?”

“I never asked you to stick around to begin with.”

 

He rolled his eyes at her response. He knew she was glad he had made the effort, but he also knew that she would never admit anything of the sort.

 

“Alright, bye.”  Dan replied, heading toward the door.

“Dan, wait.”

 

He paused, turning to look back at her.

“Thank you.”

* * *

“This is your last chance to back out now.” Amy said as she grabbed Dan’s extended hand as she got out of the car.

“You can take the keys and run.” She continued, dropping his hand.

“Nah, it's too late now. Your mom’s already standing with the front door open and watching us.”

  
She groaned.

 

She should have fucking expected her mother to be peering through the window to open the door the moment they pulled up.

 

“Maybe I’ll go into labor and be spared of this fucking circus.”

 

“This would be nothing compared to giving birth fourteen weeks early and then having to spend the next three months in and out of the hospital. Take a deep breath and calm down, it's really not that fucking serious.” Dan responded as they headed towards the front door.

 

“Oh my goodness, look at you! Amy, you really thought you could get away with not letting us see you like this? Honey, you're glowing.”

 

Her mother embraced her and Amy feigned a smile when she pulled away and immediately placed her hands on her growing abdomen.

 

“Have you thought about names yet?”

 “No, we really haven't. We haven't had much time to sit down and talk about that, with so much going on.” She responded as they stepped inside.

 

Amy watched as her mother nodded, before turning her attention to Dan. For some fucking reason, her mother had always been fond of him. God only knew why.

 

“Amy.”

“Hey, dad."

 

She felt incredibly awkward as her dad stood before her, knowing how he felt about Dan, knowing that he would probably have a lot to say about her current situation.

 

He pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheek as his hand rubbed her shoulders.

 

“How did your last doctor’s appointment go?” He asked once they pulled away, doing the exact same as her mother and placing his hands on her stomach. She really fucking hated when people did that. She hadn't even let _Dan_ do that and he was the fucking father. She doubted he would want to anyway.

 

“We’re good. Due at the end of June. She’s a little on the small side, but it's nothing to raise alarm.”

“If the baby’s on the small side then why are you so huge?” Sophie asked as she waltzed into the room, glass of wine in hand.

“At least I don't look like I'm carrying twins. Like you did for all three of your single pregnancies.” She snapped back, rolling her eyes.

“Sophie, we have guests.”

“Dan Egan has literally fucked both of your daughters and baby trapped one of them, mother. He's not a guest.”

“Sophie!”

 

Amy watched as her older sister shrugged at their mother’s horror before promptly exiting the room.

 

“She gets a little on the indecent side when she's had a little too much wine.”

“Mom, you don't need to apologize for her. She's a grown up.”

 

Amy made her way towards the kitchen, dropping her purse onto the breakfast nook as she pulled out her phone. She realized that in her current state it would be almost impossible to sit comfortably in one of the bar stools and retreated to the living room.

 

“Your dad hates me.” Dan said as she felt the couch cushions shift beside her.

“Yeah, he and I have that in common.” She replied, not bothering to look up from her phone.

“Hey, I'm fuckin’ here aren't I? I could have just let you suffer through this alone. At least you've got me to back you up and god knows you can't stand up for yourself when it comes to your family.”

“Fuck you.” She replied as she looked over at him, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Besides, you could never really hate me.” He responded, wrapping a strand of her hair around his finger and tugging gently.

 

She really needed a fucking haircut.

 

She fucking hated the fact that he was fully aware of the fact that she could never _truly_ fucking hate him.

 

“I’ve come close to it.” 

“Yeah, when?”

“Nevada.”

“Jesus.” He replied, pulling away.

“Forget I brought it up.” She responded, attempting to stand and struggling. She fucking hated the fact that she was never able to get up without anyone's help anymore. 

“I don't regret a lot of things, but Nevada, that's one of them.”

“Right.” She scoffed.

“I mean it. I didn't…”

 

Amy watched as Dan paused, almost as if he was struggling to find the proper words to say. For once she could sense that he was being sincere with her. It was utterly unlike him to be at a loss for words.

 

“If I had known what it would have made you completely freeze me out and run across country, I wouldn't have done it.”

“Well, the past is the past. ” She responded, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for bringing it up to begin with. She attempted to stand and failed again, letting out an irritated huff.

 

He stood and extended his hands to her to help her stand and she took them, her heel getting caught in the carpet as she stood, causing her to stumble forward into him, his hands moving down to her hips to steady her.

 

She could feel Dan’s breath on her face as she looked up at him.

 

“Hey princesses, dinner’s ready.” Sophie announced as she walked in.

 

Dan sighed and she bit her lip as they pulled apart, feeling her heart race.

 

Fuck Sophie and her awful goddamn timing.

* * *

“You sure it's human and not a lizard?”

 

Dan could _feel_ as Amy tensed beside him as her sister made the umpteenth unnecessary comment of the night.

 

“Can you shut the fuck up? Jesus Christ.” She snapped.

 “Human or lizard, at least she's not gonna have to beg me to be active in her life. I know you can't relate on that Sophie, with either one of your fucking baby daddies.”

 “God, good luck to any daughter raised by you.”

 

He opened his mouth to respond, only to have Amy beat him to the punch.

 

“As if you're the fucking mother of the year, Sophie. _Selina Meyer_ is a better mother than you'll ever fucking be, and that's saying a lot. Your kids would be fucking _lucky_ to be raised by Dan. At least they’d actually have a goddamn father figure around, even if he's no one’s first choice. God knows they could use someone to show them how to fucking behave and urge them to do something with their lives. You're just pissed cause it wasn't you he got knocked up. He really dodged a fucking bullet.”

 

Dan smirked, absolutely reveling in the fact that Amy was tearing her sister a new one. The fact that she was _actually_ standing up to herself when it came to Sophie was fucking monumental.

 

“Fuck you, Amy.”

 “Right back at you, you fucking cunt.”  Amy snapped, standing from her chair. “We’re leaving.” She finished, turning to him.

 “Sophie, apologize to your sister.”

 “We’re not little girls anymore mom, you can't force me to apologize.”

 

Dan rolled his eyes as he stood, following Amy out of the room as she headed into the kitchen and grabbed her purse.

 

“I'm proud of you.” He said as he pulled open the passenger door of their rental for her.

 

He knew she was fuming, and he knew it meant it would be a bit before she was ready to talk about what had just transpired.

 

It took a solid five minutes before she spoke.

 

“She's so fucking infuriating.”

“She's jealous.” He shrugged. “You’ve got your life together, for the most part anyway. You make good money, I didn't abandon you to parent on your own.”

“This baby hasn't even been born yet, you can still choose to leave once she’s born. That’s what happened to her.”

 

He rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to slam his fist against the steering wheel. He was so goddamn tired of the fact that she was still expecting him to leave. It was like nothing he had done in the past few months would make her believe that he was all in. 

 

“I'm not fucking going anywhere. Even if you and I are on bad terms, I'm sticking around. Jesus, I’m not going to be the reason you turn into your sister. This kid is just as much mine as it is yours. As big as a fucking dick as I am, I’m not letting her grow up without a dad. If anything, I should be worried about you taking off like you did after the election.”

“I wasn't going to sit around and wait for you, Dan. You didn't want me and you made that painfully obvious.”

“I have never _not_ wanted you.”

“That's hard to believe.”

“You froze me out when you went to Nevada. Don't act like I didn't try to reach out to you.”

“I was hurt. Did you really expect me to respond to your messages? Did you really expect me to pretend we were okay when we weren't? Sleeping with Sophie and continuously rubbing it in my face was low, even for you.”

“I’m sorry.”

 

It was rare for him to actually apologize for something, but this was something he had regretted from the moment he had realized that it’s what had driven Amy away for an entire year.

 

He should have apologized when she had first brought it up earlier in the evening, but he didn't want the moment to be interrupted by one of her relatives. The fact that she brought it up again, when it was just the two of them heading back to their hotel, it meant that he would be able to say whatever he needed to without interruption.

“Oh and by the way, you're gonna be a way better mom than Sophie is and it's gonna drive her fucking _insane_ that you're going to be better at something she’s been doing for years.”

“Good...and thank you, for a real apology.”

* * *

It was a little past eleven when they made it back the hotel; the drive from her parents had lasted a little over an hour because she had forced Dan to pull over twice so she could pee. The fact that this child was constantly pressing on her bladder was another reason she could not fucking wait to give birth in a few months.

Their rooms were on separate floors and when the elevator came to a stop on the fifth floor, he got off with her.

 

“Just trying to make sure you and our precious cargo make it to your room in one piece.” He shrugged as they walked down the hall together.

 

Amy rolled her eyes.

 

“Well, I’ll see you in the morning.” He said when they reached her room door before turning to leave.

“Dan, wait.”   She grabbed him by the hand, forcing him to turn back to her. She brushed her lips against his cheek.

“Thank you, for coming with me tonight.”

* * *

“Why are there so many fucking boxes?” Amy asked as they entered the apartment.

“Because we have a lot of shit?” He responded shaking his head as he sorted through the mail.

 

They had just gotten back from D.C., where they had met with potential donors and done all of the essential shit that was necessary before Selina could announce she was running again. They were four and a half months out of her initial announcement date; they were aiming for the end of August. Speculation was already starting to build up around her name, and it was imperative that they have enough money raised to back her.

 

“Why is your bed in my room?” He heard Amy ask from across the apartment.

“There’s a note from the movers about them not being able to move all of your stuff because the elevator here was apparently broken yesterday.” Dan responded as he walked into the rom, dropping their bags on the floor as he smirked at the fact that she was already lying on the bed, clutching a pillow. “Guess we’re sharing a bed the next few days.”

“The fuck we are.” She mumbled.

 

He rolled his eyes.

 

“Neither one of us has a couch big enough for me to sleep on and it's _my_ bed to begin with, and as heartless as you think I am, you're six months pregnant. I'm not letting you sleep on the couch.”

“Fine, but don't get any bright ideas.”

“You're gonna have to get off the bed so I can put some sheets on it. Highly doubt you want to sleep on a bare mattress.”  He replied, turning his attention to one of the boxes and ripping the tape off.

 

He dug through it, finding a set of sheets that matched before throwing them over to the bed.

 

“Come on, Ames. Get up.”

 

He sighed when he realized she had fallen asleep.

 

Dan walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge and giving her a gentle nudge.

 

“Hey princess, go take a shower so I can put some sheets on the bed and you can actually go to sleep.”

“Give me your hand.” She responded, reaching for it.

 

He shook his head. Lately she had been having trouble standing up on her own and wouldn't let anyone other than himself or Kent, oddly enough, help her up. He grabbed her hand, standing to help her up, only to have her put his hand on her stomach.

“You feel that?” She didn't even open her eyes as she spoke, so he didn't even know why he was nodding in response.  “That's your daughter. She does that all day. Every. Fucking. Day. It's even worse if you or Selina are around. It's like she can tell you two are the same brand of evil.”

“You can't quit either one of us.”

“I really wish I could.”

She sat up and his hand slid off of her. Amy reached for both of his hands and began to pull herself up. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him, forcing her to look up him, and kissed her.

* * *

She didn't resist.  
  


Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned into his mouth. The arm around her waist pulled her as closely as possible, Dan’s other hand intertwining itself into her hair. Amy knew better than to give in, but she was tired of fighting it. As much as she fucking hated it, as much as she hated _him_ most of the time,  she was stuck with him for the rest of her life. There had to be some way to make their twisted, fucked up dynamic work. She couldn't keep pretending that she didn't have feelings for this stupid asshole.

She pulled him onto the bed with her, her hands moving to unbutton his shirt, their mouths never losing contact.

 

“Wait.” He said as he pulled away, grabbing her hand. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes.” She responded quietly as she nodded before pulling his face to hers. She toyed with the hairs at the nape of his neck as his hands began to push her dress up past her hips.

 

Dan pulled away from her and settled himself between her legs; she swallowed hard as she felt him trail his lips against her inner thigh. He shifted her, pulling her panties off and discarding them before she felt his fingers gliding against her clit. She bit her lip, resisting the urge to moan when he pressed his tongue against her, his hands spreading her thighs and planting them against the mattress. Amy gasped, feeling his fingers enter her, her hand finding itself in his hair, urging him to continue what he was doing as he hoisted one of her legs over his shoulder, giving him a better angle.

* * *

He hooked her leg over his shoulder and she moaned a loud, desperate whimper, as she dug her heel into his back and he curled his fingers into her. He could feel that she was close by the way she arched into his mouth, the way he could feel her start to clench around his fingers. She moaned again and Dan increased the pace of his fingers and tongue, feeling her thighs start to quiver beside his head as her hand left his hair and found itself digging into his shoulder.

 

“Dan, fuck.” He heard her say in a breathy, high whisper as she came, her body arching toward him.

 

He moved up along the bed so that they were face to face, smirking as he watched her attempt to catch her breath.

 

“Stop fucking smirking at me.” She laughed, as she pushed his face away.

 

He couldn't even remember the last time he had heard her laugh so genuinely. It had to have been the first time in _months_ that he had seen her so relaxed. He felt her grab his face and kiss him, smiling against him as she slid her tongue into his mouth. Dan pulled her on top of him, his hands caressing her ass as she ground her hips against his erection.

 

“This isn't a turn off for you?” She asked suddenly pulling away.

“No.” He responded, running his hand along the curve of her abdomen.

 

He watched her nod in response, before she reached for the buckle of his pants.

* * *

She reached for the buckle of his pants, swiftly undoing them, trailing her fingers along his cock. He arched into her palm in response, his hands gripping at her hips. Amy ran her thumb against his tip and Dan groaned, causing her to smirk in response.

 

At least she didn't have to worry about whether or not he was lying about being turned on. She had the proof in the palm of her hand.

 

She pulled him out of his boxers, adjusting her straddle on him before guiding him inside of her, settling onto his cock.

 

“Ready when you are.” He teased and she rolled her eyes before rolling her hips against his.

 

“Okay, this isn't going to work.” She mumbled as she planted her hands on his chest.

“Is this better?”

 

She let out a surprised squeak when he flipped them over so that he was on top of her, moving his mouth to her neck.

 

“Yeah, it is, sorry.”

 “You're good. Whatever makes you comfortable.” He replied, grinding his hips against hers as he continued to suck at her neck.

 

She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt that she hadn't gotten to earlier, losing concentration when he thrust into her core, causing her to moan in response. He pulled away from her neck and she pulled him to her by the collar of his shirt, pressing her mouth messily to his, his eagerness to return the kiss making her heart race.

 

“Fuck me harder.” She murmured against his lips.

 “Are you sure?” He responded, pulling away.

 “God, yes. Stop asking. I’ll tell you if something’s bothering me.” She replied, bringing her hand up to his cheek. “Now don't make me ask again.”

 

Amy kissed him again running her tongue along his lip, wrapping a leg around his waist, pushing him closer with her foot. She felt him hook his arm under her leg, giving him leverage to fuck deeper. She could feel the wetness between her legs as the thrust into her, his body fitting against hers like only _his_ could and she dug her nails into his back as she felt herself begin to peak, her body quaking and her knees going completely weak, whimpering into his mouth. “ _Dan_.” She whimpered against his lips, surprised at how desperate for release she sounded as she felt her body tense. She moaned loudly as her body began to quiver with the overwhelming force of her orgasm, her heart feeling as though it were going to break out of her chest.

“That’s what I like to hear.” She heard him grunt as she panted beneath him, trying to recompose herself as she recovered from her orgasm. “Fuck.” He groaned, with another thrust.

“You’re not done, are you?”

“Fuck no. You have no clue how long I’ve wanted to do this.” He groaned as his lips found their way to her jaw and all the way up to her ear. She let out a needy whimper as he nibbled at her earlobe, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand. His hand slipped between them, finding her still sensitive clit and she arched into him, burying her face into his shoulder.

* * *

He had every intention of showing her what she had been missing these last few months. She could have been fucked until she couldn't walk whenever she had wanted to if he hadn't  had to work so hard to get to this point. He understood though, he knew she had trust him again before she could be so open with him, he knew that he had had to prove himself to her. Dan only hoped that when they were finished, she would remain as open with him. He felt her breath against his shoulder as she gripped onto them, letting out a moan with each of his thrusts as he rubbed circles around her clit.

He could feel her start to clench around him and he groaned, feeling that all too familiar feeling. Amy grabbed his face, bringing it to hers and kissed him, with a desperation that had him groaning in response as she ran her tongue along his.

  
“Finish for me.” She mumbled against his lips, caressing his cheek before he thrust into her, hard, causing her to gasp in response.

“ _Fuck_.” He grunted against her mouth as he came, slowing his rhythm to a standstill as he rested his forehead against hers before collapsing beside her. Amy curled into him, drumming her fingers along his chest as she nestled her head into his shoulder. He grabbed her hand, toying with her fingers.

“Go take a shower so I can put sheets on the bed we just christened.”

  
He watched as she rolled her eyes, turning away from him as she sat up.

  
“Don't just lie there.” She said after a moment. “Help me up, asshole!” She finished, turning back to glare at him.

  
He shook his head, smiling to himself before hopping up and rounding the bed to her side, helping her up.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Hope you guys enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some new characters introduced in this chapter and I thought it'd be helpful to know that when I wrote this chapter I had these specific people in mind while I was writing said characters: Sally Field, Stephen Colbert, and Ben Feldman.

“You made coffee? Fuck, I should have gotten you to move in with me sooner.”

“Fuck you.” Amy responded, rolling her eyes as she grabbed a mug of coffee and poured creamer into it. She stirred it before bringing it to her lips, watching him over the lip of her mug.

“Pretty sure you’re supposed to stay away from caffeine.” Dan responded, voice thick with sleep as he walked toward her. He reached her, taking the mug from her and drinking some of himself.

 

She cackled as his face contorted in disgust.

 

“Hence why it’s decaf, dumbass.” She replied, taking the mug back before handing him the other one. “This one is yours. Since when are you an expert on what pregnant women can and can’t have?”

“I did some reading.” He shrugged, adding sugar to his mug.

“Oh...well, don’t get used to this, I was feeling generous, I guess.”

“Because I made you come three times last night?” He smirked as he took a sip of his coffee.

 

She could feel her face start to flush as she turned away from him, adding more creamer into her cup. Amy wasn’t one to blush, but the pregnancy hormones on the other were doing a fucking number on her when it came to trying to hide her emotions. She knew that she was already an expressive human being and her emotions were usually written all over her face but this? _This_ was really something else for her.

 

“Jesus fuck, are you blushing?”

 

She turned to find, leaning against the counter and watching as his smirk transformed into a full onshit eating grin as he set his coffee mug down. He closed the gap between them, planting a hand on either side of her so that he had her cornered.

 

"Don’t flatter yourself.” She retorted, crossing her arms as she tilted her head up to look at him. “You and I both know it had been a while for me. We also know you can’t say the same thing for yourself, since you’re such a raging slut.”

"May not have been as long as it was for you, but it was definitely longer than usual for me."

"That's hard to believe." She scoffed, shaking her head.

"Last time I got laid was like, two months ago. You were still giving me the cold shoulder."

"Rightfully so it seems, since you were fucking the nearest thing with two legs."

"Actually, Sarah only had one."

"Ugh, stop talking. I don't want to hear about your sexcapades."

  
Amy put up a hand to let him know she was done with the conversation topic, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

  
"Yeah well, they're over so you won't have to worry about anyone stealing me away from you, honey."  He said, pushing her hair behind her ear and catching her completely off guard as he kissed her forehead before pulling away from her, grabbing his coffee.

"I'm not sleeping with you again if you're sleeping around."

  
She watched as he rolled his eyes. She knew that was how he would respond, but she had to make herself clear to him. If she was going to allow herself to completely open herself up to him, he needed to know it would be on her terms.

  
"Yeah, why do you think I stopped sleeping around? This" was bound to happen eventually. I know you, I know your boundaries."

  
She nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. Her stomach growled.

  
"We don't have any groceries."

 

"Well, it's a good thing we can have those delivered, right?"

 

"That doesn't help the fact that both your spawn and I are hungry."

 

"Breakfast can be delivered too, sweetheart." He winked as he pulled out his phone.

 

"Dan." She said as her stomach growled again, loud enough for both of them to hear.

 

"Fine. Get dressed."

 

She had really made him get dressed and leave the apartment so that she could get a fucking _bagel_. It wasn't just any fucking bagel either, it just _had_ to be from a supermarket twenty blocks uptown.   
  
Pregnant women and their fucking cravings. On top of that, because they were already at the store, she decided it would be brilliant to do some grocery shopping, instead of just letting him order them online to be delivered to their place.

  
"Where are we putting what?" He asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the kitchen counter, currently covered in bags of groceries.

"They're groceries, who cares?"

"I do. You're like the size of like, a fucking hobbit. You really think I want to hear your mouth if you can't reach the cheerios because I put them up too high? It's not like we have a step stool or some shit to help you reach."

"Then if it's something you know I'm gonna want, maybe, I don;t know, keep it within my reach? It's not quantum physics, Danny."

"You bought so many groceries that it's impossible to know what you're going to want so _something_ is bound to be out of your reach. I'm just trying to avoid unnecessary arguments."

"That's a good one, you trying to avoid getting on my nerves as if that isn't your favorite hobby. If I can't reach anything, you'll just have to put our height difference to work and get it for me. At least be useful in some fucking aspect of this new domestic thing you forced on me."

"Forced? _Forced?_ " He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You didn't have to say yes. No one's fucking forcing you into anything here, Amy. This is fucking exhausting, you know?" He ran a hand through his hair in irritation before continuing. "I'm making a fucking effort here. You and I both know that's not fucking easy for me, to actually show that I give a shit. You told me you were pregnant and I decided that I _wanted_ to be a part of this, and you decided you would let me. I leased this apartment for the sole fact that this baby is half mine, and I'm not trying to be an absentee father. I'm not letting you do all the fucking work when it comes to this kid. A fucking kid wasn't a part of my plan but that plan's been fucking adjusted. None of this was forced on you, this is all the catalyst of your decisions. I know damn well you'd rather have me be here than have me disappear on you. God knows we're both less insufferable when we're around each other anyway. Nobody us forcing any domestic bullshit on you, nobody's asking you to be a fucking Stepford wife."

 

He watched as she pursed her lips and nodded, putting down the box of cereal she was holding and rounding the kitchen island so that there was just a few feet between them. He couldn't help but notice that it was such a _Selina_ like gesture; they were definitely spending way too much goddamn time together.

 

"You're not a fucking martyr, Dan. So _please_ stop pretending that you are, it doesn't suit you. At all. I don't know where your fucking outburst spawned from, it was just an offhanded comment, I wasn't expecting you to have a meltdown but...I'll be honest with you, any doubts I had about whether you were all in or not...they're gone. But you do have to understand that this fucking arrangement between us is weird. We are not together."

"Yet this morning you said you wouldn't sleep with me again if I kept sleeping around and I told you I had already stopped sleeping around."

"That doesn't mean that we're together!" She huffed in response.  


As difficult as she fucking made everything at times with the way she was so goddamn guarded, so unclear with what she wanted from him, he knew that there was always going to be _something_ between them, and the sooner they decided what that something fucking was, the better. Especially before there was a fucking _child_ in the picture. He was already pretty fucked up as it was because of his parents, the last thing he wanted to do was follow in their footsteps.  


"We're three months out from a kid being in the picture. You really want to bring a kid into this world and not know where the fuck we stand?"

 

He was _irritated_ . Here he was, consistently trying to make an effort, going out of his way to show her that he really was in this, that he wasn't going to let her do this on her own and he was barely getting anything fucking back. He was tired of it. When was she going to finally realize that the _only_ reason he hadn't walked away was because of _her_ . That if he had chosen to walk away from this child, it would have meant walking away from her, and he wasn't willing to lose her again. When was Amy going to realize that he was making all of this effort for _her._ Hadn't she realized it when he had told her she was the only person he would ever do this for? Wasn't that enough?  


"I'm just trying to figure out what the fuck we're doing here, okay? It's been three months of this. I've given you time, I've given you space. I waited more than a month before you would even discuss letting me be here. I get it, okay? I wasn't the person you wanted this with, but it happened. I've done nothing but make an effort to do what you've fucking wanted of me these last few weeks."

"This," he watched her motion between them, "is what we're doing. We're cohabiting, we had sex. I would have thought last night would have defined that. I don't know why the fuck you're making such a big deal of this all. Do you want to put a label on it, is that what you're after? Because its not like this is anyone else's fucking business but our own. Everyone knew this was going to fucking happen anyway, so it's not like anyone is going to be surprised. All of D.C. thought we were fucking anyway. The White House interns had a pool going that we were actually married, so who gives a shit if we label this?"

"You're fucking unbelievable, you know that right?  
  
"What the fuck do you want from me, Dan?"  
  
"Jesus Christ, _you_ , Amy. You are what I want."

* * *

"What?"  
  
She swallowed hard, feeling her heart in her throat as she tried to process his words. He was so goddamn worked up, which was completely unlike him. The last time she had seen him so worked up had been in London several years prior, when he had had a panic attack. If he was this upset, he had to have been serious about this.

  
"You're what I want, Amy."  
  
She watched as he ran a hand through his hair, frazzled.  
  
"So let me get this straight...you want us to be together?" She asked skeptically, still unable to fully process what this meant.  
  
"Did I stutter?"  
  
"But why? You don't...you don't do long term relationships. Every relationship you've ever had has given you an advantage somehow. You said it, this wasn't....this _isn't_ a part of your plan."  
  
"I don't want you to be another meaningless one night stand."  
  
"After we slept together...I thought that maybe it would become something else. That we'd finally stop playing this fucking game of cat and mouse. I don't fucking know, Dan."  
  
"What don't you know? You just said you thought we could be something else."  
  
"And then I found out I was pregnant and that changed. I had to make sure that I wouldn't be in this alone. This isn't just about me anymore. This is about our daughter. I had to be sure that if you said you were in, you were _in._ I didn't want there to be a risk of me letting you back in to have to kick you out again. It wasn't easy for me to ignore you for an entire fucking year when I was in Nevada. I know you probably think it was, but it was really fucking hard, Dan. It sucked and I'd rather not have to do that again. Especially not now."  
  
As difficult as it was for her to talk about her feelings, she knew that this conversation was bound to happen, no matter how hard she had tried to avoid it. It was always going to happen, whether she wanted it to or not.  
  
"Yeah, well being ignored fucking sucked...I actually missed having you around."  
  
  
He reached forward and pulled at a strand of her hair.

  
She rolled her eyes.  
  
  
"You're a fucking child, you know?" Amy sighed, reaching for his hand. "I missed being around."  
  
"So what do you say, Ames? We doing this?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess we are."

* * *

"My parents want to meet you."  


Amy looked up from her laptop as Dan walked into her office, dropping down into one of the chairs in front of her desk.  
  
"Are you serious?"

"As serious as Selina and Gary's heart attacks."

  
She groaned.

  
"You know we've been together like, a week right?"

"You know you're like seven months pregnant and my parents have known for the last, maybe three months?"

  
Meeting parents was not her forte. Especially when she would be meeting them for the first time while pregnant with their first grandchild.

  
"When?"

"They'll be in town from upstate on Friday. They want to have dinner. Just the six of us."

"Six...?"

"Them, my brother, and his wife."

"Do not tell me it's the woman you - "

"No, Amy. His wife is not the fiance I slept with. My brother's not fucking stupid. A bit of a doormat, yeah, but he dumped her flat on her ass as soon as he found out."

"What'd he do to you?"

  
She watched as Dan shrugged before responding.

  
"He broke my nose."

"Well, you deserved it."

"So we'll do dinner?"

"Obviously." She sighed, shutting her laptop. "I really don't have any other option...it was gonna happen eventually. Might as well make nice now." She finished, shrugging as she hauled herself out of her chair and rounded her desk.

"Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. They'll like you regardless. My mom thought I would end up alone so with the little demon in the oven, at least that wont be her biggest concern anymore. Isn't that right, princess?"

  
He placed both of his hands on her abdomen and she rolled her eyes. They had yet to discuss potential names and he had taken to referring to their unborn child as 'princess' or 'demon spawn', sometimes a going with 'princess demon spawn' just to spite her. He had claimed that it was just until they had decided on a name, but she knew that at this point, he was attached to the nicknames. Even though he swore they were just to get on her nerves, she could hear the affection in his voice and the fact that he wasn't even aware of it was further proof that he did have every intention to be a good parent, a good partner.

It was slightly unnerving to see that he actually was capable of caring about someone other than himself.

  
"As long as you don't do anything to make her end up hating you, I think you'll be fine."

"Well, if she's anything like you I can get away with a lot and still end up on her good side." He responded as he stood, looking down at her.

"Don't push your luck."

* * *

"You can still back out now. The car's still here."

"Why are you so insistent that I want to back out? Are you nervous about me meeting your family?" Amy responded, rolling her eyes as she linked her arm through his.

"My dad is the problem." He responded, shaking his head as he pulled the door to the restaurant open. The second he spotted his parents, he could feel his anxiety skyrocket.

"He can't be that bad." Amy retorted as they approached his family.

  
Dan opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by his mother's excitement at spotting them.

  
"Daniel!"

  
He felt Amy drop his arm and before he knew it, his mother was grabbing is face and kissing both of his cheeks in the over affectionate manner he had wished she would have abandoned once he had moved out.

It had only gotten worse instead and he could hear Amy fucking _chuckling_ beside him.

  
"Hey, mom." He responded as he embraced her.

"You must be Amy! My god, you are so much more beautiful in person than in the pictures Danny sent! It's so nice to finally meet you."

  
He cringed watching as his mother took both of Amy's hands and gave them a squeeze before kissing her cheek.

  
"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Egan."

"Oh god, you're family now, please call me mom!"

"Mom - "

"Hush, Dan-Dan."

  
God, how he hated that fucking nickname.  
  
  
"You can call her Christine, or Christie, or Chris, don't fall into the pressure of calling her mom if you don't want to. I'm Dan's father, Robert."  
  
  
Typical of his dad to bypass him completely and head straight toward Amy. Dan clenched his jaw as his dad interacted with Amy, giving her the once over as he spoke to her. He was used to him doing that the rare occasion that he had brought someone home but this time it was different.

He watched Amy plaster on her best fake smile as both of his parents gushed over her stomach.  
  
  
"It seems like Dan has finally managed to get _something_ right." Robert commented as he placed a hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Well, he also managed to elect Jonah Ryan to congress, which is what the Meyer administration had tasked him with at the time." She responded through her forced smile.

"And look how that turned out for you guys. Meyer isn't President."

"Well, it's a good thing she'll be elected come the end of next year."

  
He would never really understand her loyalty to Selina.  
  
  
"Anyway, where are Andy and Julie?" Dan asked, changing the topic of the conversation as they took their seats. His mother sat at the head of the table and he and his father flanked her at both sides so that Amy was to his left. He knew the less irritating option for her was to have her seated closer to his brother and his wife, both of whom were far less overwhelming than his parents.

"Running late. You know Julie's a bit of a ditz and loses track of time easily. Probably got distracted by all of the bright lights in Times Square."

"Robert, for the love of God, Julie's a good daughter-in-law. Andy's happy, who cares if she's not the sharpest crayon in the box. At least she's not like Samantha."  
  
"Samantha was smart. She was going places. Law degree from Yale. Dan just had to go and fuck her and ruin that for Andrew."

"Bobby, that's enough."

"Oh, come on sweetheart. Dan knows he's a whore. He's a grown up. He can take it."

"Oh goodie, here come Andrew and Julie!" Christine announced loudly, clearly thankful for a change in topic.  
  
"My god, your brother looks just like you." Amy whispered beside him.

"My eyes aren't as bulging." He replied as his brother and his wife headed toward the table.

"I don't know, they're pretty bulgy when you're having a fucking meltdown." She retorted, patting his knee.

"Ah, you must be the famous Amy Brookheimer. No, no, don't stand."

  
Dan watched as his brother stood at Amy's side, bending down to give her an awkwardly maneuvered side hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  
"It's so nice to finally meet you! We've heard so much about you. This is my wife, Julie."

  
He watched as his sister-in-law did the same as his brother, and he tried not to shake his head in response. She really wasn't the brightest bulb in the box and tended to follow Andy like a lost puppy.  
  
  
"Dan the man!" He felt his brother pat his back, harder than was ever fucking necessary when greeting someone.

"Andy the pansy." Dan retorted, straight faced as he shrugged his brother's hand off before standing and greeting his sister-in-law. "Hey, Jules." He said as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hey Danny. It's really nice to finally meet your girlfriend!" She replied, giving his forearm a squeeze before she took her seat at the table beside Amy.

"So Andy, you're a teacher?"

"Yeah! I teach pre-school right now."

"Well, it's good to know that we'll have a baby sitter on call if we ever need one." Amy said as she looked over her menu.

"Oh yeah, definitely."  
  
  
As Amy made small talk with his brother and his wife, Dan turned his attention to his mother.

  
"Danny, when are you two settling down?"

  
This was going to be a long fucking night.

  
"We live together and we're having a baby. That's pretty settled, mom." He responded, toying with his silverware.

"I mean long term. You know I don't want you to be alone."

"A baby's a pretty long term. So I don't think I'm ever gonna be left alone."

"Dan-Dan, I mean relationship wise! Stop being so difficult."

"We'll see, okay? Whatever happens, happens."

* * *

Christine Egan was not that bad. She was _nice,_ much like her own mother and Amy knew that if they ever got around to meeting one another, they would get along incredibly well. It was clear that Dan was a momma's boy, which was ironic, considering his treatment of most women. But it was obvious that he loved his mom and that she adored her eldest son.

Andrew Egan was far too perky for her liking; he reminded her of a puppy. Overexcited and eager to join in on the conversations, over gesticulating when talking. His wife, Julie was a complete fucking airhead but she was sweet and Amy could tell that the couple enjoyed one another's company.

They were all just so fucking _normal_.

She would have been more surprised if it weren't for the fact that her family was pretty normal and she had still turned out as aggressive, maybe more, than Dan had.

Dan's dad on the other hand? Jesus fucking Christ, his dad? He could give _Selina_ a run for her fucking money when it came to being the parent of the year. Almost every response he gave Dan was condescending and it was grating at her goddamn last nerve. It was one thing for her to use that tone with him, it was a part of their dynamic. They actually had affection for one another. His father on the other hand? It was like nothing Dan had ever done was good enough for him.

  
"You've done a lot for your age, Amy. Only thirty-four, worked through one and a half failed elections for your candidate, former chief of staff for the former president, heading said former president's third presidential bid as campaign manager, former lobbyist. There's a lot done in such a short amount of time and to top it all off, you've left each job on your own accord. You think being around Dan for so long would have gotten some of that to rub off on him, god knows he can't seem to keep a job without getting fired or having a goddamn mental breakdown."

"You know Rob, can I call you that? It's a great thing that you mention Dan's breakdown, because President Meyer's campaign is focusing a lot on mental health issues because of her family history with her mother and daughter, so of course having Dan as a part of the team is a bonus for us and her. The fact that he bounced back so smoothly just means that he would be such a fitting mental health advocate."

  
She watched as Robert threw his head back, scoffing in response. She could literally feel her blood boil.

  
"Danny as a mental health advocate? God, it would be the highlight of my parenting to see him actually succeed at something."

"Don't listen to your father, Danny. You know you've accomplished a lot. I'm proud of you, you're a busy bee, always buzzing from job to job."

  
Amy watched as Christine patted Dan's hand in reassurance as he blew out his cheeks, looking up at the ceiling. She could tell that he was trying not to make a scene and she really couldn't blame him. If she had to endure the constantly belittling from one of her parents, she would have left a long fucking time ago.

  
"Why couldn't you be more like Andy? He never has to worry about getting fired, teachers are always in need, especially for younger grades. He's helping shape the minds of the future. Isn't it embarrassing that your little brother has been more successful in his personal life than you have? You're almost forty and you're _just_ getting your life together in some form."

"Dan and I are polar opposites, dad. You can't expect someone as aggressive as he is to do something like teach. He's better off in politics, he's with other people who are just as cutthroat and lacking of a conscience as he is."

"How about we stop attacking Danny and try to focus on having a pleasant dinner. This is a terrible first impression."

"Actually Christine, this is absolutely _perfect_. Let everyone show their true colors right off the bat. It's better to know what the hell I'm walking into than to be blind sided five years down the line when it's too late to remove any of you from this child's life. You understand, right? You would do anything to protect your boys  and believe me, I would do the same - and more - for my daughter."

"This is exactly why I didn't want to do this. Every fucking time we have dinner I have to deal with this bullshit. 'Why can't you be perfect like Andy?' 'Andy this, Andy that.' Andy's lives a fucking block away from you guys and is working in an underpaid, over stressed career field. He could at least be working at a fucking private school in the Hamptons or some shit instead of a public school. At least I got the fuck out o there and managed to make something of myself. It's only up from here."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Yeah, well can you see this?"

  
Amy couldn't retain her laughter as Dan flipped off his father. It was so childish, but she knew it was the best he could do without really causing a scene.

  
"That is enough! Both of you, cut it out. Bobby, leave Danny alone." Christine directed, smacking her hand against the table before changing the subject. "Amy, when are you due?"

"End of June."

"And when is your shower?"

"We opted out of that. We don't have any time in our schedules for that and it's not like we can't afford to get the items we need ourselves." She replied, taking a sip of water.

"Is there anything we can help you two with?"

"No, not really. We've pretty much got it covered."

  
They did not have it covered. They hadn't even gotten around to hiring someone to decorate the nursery, but they way this dinner was going, the last thing she wanted was any assistance from Dan's parents.

  
"Oh well, please keep us updated so we can come by and meet the newest addition to the family once she's here."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

"You were really good with my family."

"They're a lot...like, they're more than mine." She responded, looking up at him.

  
They had gotten home from dinner around midnight. It was nearing two a.m. and she was leaning into him in bed, his fingers drumming along her side as he scrolled through the movie options on Netflix. They both knew she wasn't going to be able to stay up through the entire film but that didn't stop them from bickering about what genre to watch.

  
"Yeah, I fucking know." He sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." He responded, pulling her closer against him.

"Dan."

  
She felt him sigh before he responded.

  
"I really hope I'm a better dad than he is."

"You will be. You're...surprisingly good with kids, considering how big of a douchebag you an be."

  
The few times she had seen him interact with kids, it had always caught her off guard at the fact that he was actually able to tone himself down, he was capable of censoring himself. It genuinely surprised her.

  
"I don't think you have anything to worry about. No offense, but I'm not your mother. I wouldn't let you berate our kid as badly as your dad berated you."

"You know this kid is gonna inherit your slick mouth, right?"

"Oh, I know. Might as well be prepared now for the day we get a call from her school about her cursing at someone."

"All bets on it being before she's even in first grade."

"Be realistic, her first name is probably going to be a cognitive of 'fuck'."

"Aren't you...nervous?"

"Of course I'm fucking nervous, Dan. This is new to me too. I don't know anything about kids. I wasn't around when any of Sophie's kids were born - not that I wanted to be - so we're both entering uncharted waters. I think as long as this kid doesn't end up hating us and she doesn't inherit your sociopathic tendencies, we'll be fine."

"And if we find a good nanny." He responded, turning off the tv and pulling away from her.

"She's going to be seventy and Dutch. There's no fucking way we're getting a nanny below the age of fifty."

"Of course not. Wouldn't want you to feel threatened by a younger woman in your own home."

"Hey, fuck you! I'm not Selina."

"And thank god for that. I'm going into the kitchen, you want anything?"

"Some water."

"You sure about that? You already pee like a fucking race horse."

"Just bring me a fucking bottle of water, Dan."

* * *

 

They were woken up by someone obnoxiously ringing their doorbell at six a.m. The sun hadn't even begun to fucking rise yet.

It had to be Selina. No one else would be at their door, unannounced, at the crack of fucking dawn.

  
"Go answer the door." Amy groaned beside him, and he could hear as she grabbed her pillow and covered her head. He stood, turning on the light on his way out as the doorbell continued to ring.

"It's fucking six a.m., enough with the goddamn doorbell." He snapped, pulling the door open to reveal a delivery boy behind a massive box on a dolley.

"I'm just here to drop this off."

"We didn't order anything." Dan responded as he raised an eyebrow.

"It's a gift. Where do you want this?" The teenager replied, handing him an envelope with Amy's name printed onto it.

"What is it?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know, man? I just deliver it."

"Just put it in the living room, down the hall to the left." He stepped aside, letting him enter.

"What the fuck is taking you so long?" Amy asked as she came down the hall, yawning.

"You have a package." He responded, handing her the envelope and watching as the box slid off the dolley.

"Who the fuck?"  
  
  
She snatched the envelope and he watched as she scanned the card.

  
"To my favorite campaign manager, her baby daddy, and the little bundle of _joy_ they're about to bring into the world. This is the least I can do. It shouldn't clash with whatever the fuck you decide to decorate the nursery with and if it does, well that's too fucking bad. This is imported from Europe, so I hope those fuckers managed to translate the instructions. If not, good fucking luck.' And then she signed it with her name and a little heart. Who the hell is she?"

"Why is she so much more invested in this than she is with her oh, I don't know, actual biological grandchild?"

"She likes me better than Catherine." She responded, shrugging. "She has to be exposed to this kid more than she does her grandchild."

"Wait a sec, aren't you Danny Egan? That guy who used to report for that CBS morning show? Were you really fucking that old lady?"

Dan watched as Amy covered her mouth and laughed.

"No, I was not fucking her, and if you're done you can get out."

"Yeah, it's a good thing you weren't cause this one's way prettier."

"I know, right?" He smirked looking over at Amy, whose eyes had widened in surprise.

"Alright. Box is set. Can you just sign this to confirm the delivery and I'll be out of your hair."

  
He signed for the package, sending the delivery boy on his merry way.

  
"Anyway, seeing as we were awoken way before either one of us had fucking planned for today, I'm going back to sleep. Are you coming?" Amy asked, already heading back toward their bedroom.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna try and build this thing."

  
He watched as she raised an eyebrow in response before shrugging.

  
"Okay. Try not to make a lot of noise when it inevitably pisses you off. I'll set the Keurig to brew before I go back to sleep."

"Nah, don't bother. If I can't figure it out in the next thirty minutes, I'll be back in bed."

  
He turned his attention to the box in front of him, ripping the tape off of the side. The first thing he saw was the instruction booklet. He flipped through it, noting it was in Swedish and promptly thew it back into the box.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed, comments and kudos are always appreciated!


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